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Class  TZAi 
Bookie 


CiffimiGHi'  DEPosrr. 


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Distribution 
^Poreignrljorn 

Itallans^^ 
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Cleigya^  Laity 

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(Taken  from  Mangano.  "Sons  of  Italy.")  Used  by  permission  of 
Missionary  Education  Movement,  owners  of  copyright. 


nixe  Second  Generation  of  Italians  in 
Ne^^>  York  Gtp 

BY 

JOHN  HORACE  MARIANO  ^ 


submitted  in  partial  fulfillment  of  tKe  requirements  for  the 

degree  of  doctor  of  philosophy?  at  New  Tork  University)" 

{Department  of  Sociology) 


Qhe  Christopher  Publishing  House 
Boston,  U.  S.  A. 


^'>-<S- 


Thk  Christophbr  Publishing  Housb 


APR  -6  1921        p_ 
g)CI,A6il517 


CONTENTS 
PART    I  — NATURE    AND    EXTENT    OF    INVESTIGATION 

CHAPTER  I  —Plm  of  Study ....^^1 

Purpose:  A  Sociological  study  of  Italian  life  in  New 
York  City.  Scope :  Limited  to  Americans  of  Italian  ori- 
gin. Sources  :  A  first  hand  study  of  the  people  them- 
selves. Original  survey  of  types  of  organizations  and 
institutions  prevalent.  Original  data. gained  in  a  sym- 
posium.    Statistical  reports,  government  data,  etc. 

CHAPTER   II  —  Difficulties   underlying    an   investigation    of   the 

Italian   element   6 

Difficulty  of  collecting  data:  The  adult  Italian  is  un- 
trained and  suspicious.  Italian  immigration  :  Its  recency. 
Unsettled  problems.    Reasons  for  investigation. 


PART   II  — SURVEY   OF   SOCIO-ECONOMIC   CONDITIONS 

CHAPTER  III  ^Population  and  Distribution 11 

Difficulty  of  accurate  enumeration.  Density.  Distribu- 
tion of  Italian  colonies  in  New  York  City:  Manhattan, 
'Brooklyn,  Bronx,  Queens,  Richmond.  Table  of  colonies 
in  New  York  City:  Age  distribution.  Sex  classification. 
Conjugal  relationship.  Mixed  marriages.  Relationship 
between  size  of  family  and  its  place  in  the  socio-eco- 
nomical  scale. 

CHAPTER  IV  — Occupations 31 

Relation  of  Italian  to  other  stocks  in  American  indus- 
tries. Distribution  of  Italian  blood  in  different  indus- 
tries. Distribution  in  New  York  City.  What  the  "new" 
generation  hopes  for. 

CHAPTER   V  —  Health   37 

Introduction.    Vital  statistics.    Italian  health  agencies. 

CHAPTER  VI  — Standard  of  Living  45 

Introduction:  Definition  of  terms.  Changing  standards. 
Incomes :  Adult  bread  winners.     Lodgers  or  boarders. 

V 


CONTENTS  vi 

Child  labor.  Housing:  Average  number  of  rooms. 
Housing  in  relation  to  expenditure.  Savings  and  thrift. 
Thrift  compared  with  other  nationalities.  Estimated 
savings. 

CHAPTER  YU  — Literacy   57 

The  "old"  versus  the  "new"  generation.  Status  in  the 
schools  at  large.  In  the  high  schools.  In  the  primary- 
schools.  Elimination  and  retardation :  at  large.  In 
New  York  City.    The  present  need. 

CHAPTER   YUl  — Citizenship    65 

Obstacles  to  citizenship:  Ignorance  of  language.  Ten- 
dency to  return  to  "homeland."  Relation  of  immigrant 
to  native  vote.  Citizenship  status  in  New  York  City. 
Place  of  women  of  Italian  blood.  Differences  between 
Italy  and  America. 

CHAPTER  IX  —  Philanthropy  and  Social  Welfare  71 

Introduction.     Dependency.     Delinquency. 

PART  III  — PSYCHOLOGICAL  TRAITS 

CHAPTER  X  —  Introduction — Basis  for  Classification  of  Types....  82 
Difficulties   of   classification.     Economic   status.     Pleas- 
ures or  recreation. 

CHAPTER  XI  — The  "Tenement"  Type— An  Ideo-Emotional  Type  87 
Background:  Physical;  street,  slums,  tenement  districts. 
Mental;  subnormal.  Vocational;  varied  and  inter- 
mittent. Home  conditions  ;  unsocial.  Personal  character- 
istics:  Type  of  disposition;  instigative,  convivial.  Co- 
operation :  Perception  of  resemblances  and  of  differ- 
ences ;  prompt.  Attitude  towards  strangers ;  suspicion 
and  distrust.  Pleasures;  motor-sensory.  Type  of  mind; 
ideo-emotional. 

CHAPTER  XII  —  The  "Trade''  or  "Business"  Type— A  dogmatic- 
emotional  type  97 

Background:  Physical;  shop  or  factory.  Mental,  varied. 
Vocational;  steady  and  skilled  labor.  Home  conditions; 
narrowing  and  un-American.  Personal  characteristics  : 
Type  of  disposition;  domineering,  austere.  Coopera- 
tion; Perception  of  resemblances  and  of  differences; 
keen.  Attitude  towards  strangers;  unfriendliness. 
Pleasures;  emotional  ideation.  Type  of  mind;  dogma- 
tic-emotional. 


vii  CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  Xlll  —  The  "College"  Type— A  transitionol  type  103 

Background:  Physical;  typically  American.  Mental; 
formal  discipline.  Vocational;  undetermined.  Home 
conditions;  varied.  Personal  characteristics:  aggres- 
sive and  convivial.  Cooperation ;  Perception  of  resem- 
blances and  of  differences  ;  none  on  racial  grounds.  At- 
titude toward  strangers  ;  open  and  frank.  Pleasures  ;  in- 
ductive ideation.     Type  of  mind;  critical-intellectual. 

CHAPTER    XIY—The    "Professionar    Type— A     critical-intel- 
lectual type  110 

Background:  Physical;  home  and  office.  Mental;  dic- 
tated by  pleasure  and  vocation.  Vocational;  profes- 
sions, law,  medicine,  teaching.  Home  conditions;  nor- 
mal Americans.  Personal  characteristics:  Type  of  dis- 
position; creative.  Cooperation:  Perception  of  resem- 
blances and  differences;  none  on  racial  grounds.  Atti- 
tude toward  strangers  ;  broad.  Pleasures  ;  dictated  by 
choice.    Type  of  mind;   critical-intellectual. 

CHAPTER  XV— The  Italian-speaking  Colony  in  New  York  City.MS 
The  "old"  generation.    The  "new"  generation.    Relation 
between  the  "old"  and  the  "new"  generation. 

CHAPTER  XVI  —  Recapitulation  132 


PART  IV  — SOCIAL  ORGANIZATION 

CHAPTER  XVII  —  Introduction  138 

Definition  of  terms :  Basis  of  classification ;  Overlapping 
character  of  aims.  Correspondence  between  "mental" 
type  of  mind  and  character  of  organization  effected. 

CHAPTER  XVIIl  — Types  of  Organisation 140 

The  Social  Club:  Particular  group;  the  "Husky"  Asso- 
ciation. Type  of  member;  the  "tenement"  type,  ages, 
21-35;  education,  elementary;  vocations,  physical  labor; 
pleasures,  sensory.  Type  of  activity;  recreational, 
social.  Relation  and  effect  of  "social"  club  to  commun- 
ity, anti-social.  The  "Athletic"  Club:  Particular  group ; 
the  "Nameoka"  Athletic  club.  Type  of  member;  the 
type.  Ages,  18-35 ;  education,  elementary  and  high 
school;  vocations,  physical  and  mental;  pleasures, 
motor-sensory.  Type  of  activity;  recreational  and  phy- 
sical. Relation  and  effect  of  "Athletic"  club  to  com- 
munity; unsocial.    The  "Religious"  Club:  (a)  The  "Cath- 


CONTENTS  vwi 

olic"  Club :  Particular  group ;  The  "Ozanam"  associa- 
tion. Type  of  members;  ideo-emotional.  Ages,  18-30; 
education,  elementary  and  high  school;  vocations, 
skilled  and  unskilled ;  pleasures,  of  sense,  idea,  and 
emotion.  Type  of  activity;  social,  recreational,  spirit- 
ual, (b)  The  "Protestant"  Club:  Particular  group;  The 
Broome  Street  Tabernacle  club.  Type  of  members ; 
Ages,  18-30;  education,  elementary  and  high  school;  vo- 
cations, skilled  and  unskilled;  pleasures,  of  sense,  idea, 
and  emotion.  Type  of  activity;  social,  recreational, 
spiritual.  Relation  and  effect  of  "religious"  club  to 
community;  friendly,  sympathetic,  social.  The  **Benev- 
olent"  organization.  Particular  group;  The  Bagolino 
Benefit  Society.  Type  of  members;  dogmatic-emo- 
tional. Ages,  18-45;  education,  elementary;  vocations, 
skilled,  unskilled,  professions;  pleasures,  of  sense,  emo- 
tion and  thought.  Type  of  activity;  social,  physical, 
ideational.  Relation  and  effect  of  "Civic"  association 
to  community;  social.  The  "Social  Welfare"  League: 
Particular  group;  The  League  for  Social  Service.  The 
Italian  Welfare  League.  The  Young  Men's  Italian  Edu- 
cational League.  The  Italian  Educational  League.  Type 
of  mmbers ;  critical-intellectual.  Ages,  18-50;  education, 
college  and  university;  vocations,  professions;  pleas- 
ures, of  thought.  Relation  and  effect  of  "Social"  Wel- 
fare" League  to  community;  social.  The  "College"  Cir- 
colo:  Particular  group ;  The  Columbia  Circolo.  Type  of 
members;  critical-intellectual.  Ages,  19-28 j  education, 
college  and  university;  vocations,  undetermined;  pleas- 
ures, of  sense,  emotion,  and  thought.  Type  of  activity; 
social,  ideational.  Relation  and  effect  of  "College  Cir- 
colo" to  community;  friendly  and  social.  The  Pfofes- 
sional"  Cltib:  Particular  group;  The  Italian  Teachers' 
Association.  The  Italian  Lawyers'  Association.  The 
Societa  Medica  Italiana.  The  Circolo  Nazionale.  Type 
of  members;  critical-intellectual.  Ages,  26-60;  educa- 
tion, college  and  university;  vocation,  professions; 
pleasures,  of  thought.  Type  of  activity;  social,  profes- 
sional, ideational.  Relation  and  effect  of  "Professional" 
club  to   community;   unrelated. 

CHAPTER  XIX  —  Miscellaneous  Organisations  182 

Dramatic;  The  Marionette  Theatre.  Musical;  The  In- 
ternational Festival  Chorus  (Italian  division).  Educa- 
tional; Verdi,  Auxiliary,  Italian  Intercollegiate,  Italian 
Scholarship  Fund,  Dante  Alighieri  Society,  Dante 
League  of  America.  Fraternal;  Alpha  Phi  Delta,  Sigma 
Phi  Theta,  Delta  Omega  Phi.   Social  Welfare ;  The  Ital- 


CONTENTS 

ica  Gens.  Recreational;  The  Italian  American  Scout- 
craft  Association.  Arts  and  Industry;  Suola  Italiana 
d'Industrie,  The  Italian  Industrial  School,  Society  for 
Italian  Women.  Propaganda;,  The  Roman  Legion  of 
America,  The  Italy-America  Society,  The  Italian  Bureau 
of  Public  Information. 


PART   V  — WHAT   THE   AMERICAN    OF    ITALIAN 

EXTRACTION    CONTRIBUTES    TO    AMERICAN 

DEMOCRACY 

CHAPTER   XX  — Introduction   „ 205 

Reasons  for  phrase  "Americans  of  Italian  extraction." 
Definition  of  Democracy* 

CHAPTER  XXI  —  Old  Ideas  Regarding  Italians 209 

Incomplete  knowledge  regarding  Italians.  Type  of 
Italian  that  comes  to  America.  Recency  of  Italian  Im* 
migration.  Friction  and  misunderstanding  due  to  mal-^ 
adjustment ;  lack  of  proper  sociological  milieu. 

CHAPTER  XXII  — T;^^  Present  Viewpoint  213 

Practical  demonstrations  of  leadership  and  initiative 
visible  today  along  agricultural,  industrial,  and  pro- 
fessional pursuits.  Practical  experience  of  social  econ- 
omists and  social  workers  regarding  their  qualities  of 
cooperation.  Testimony  of  "Pblitical  Leaders"  regard-^ 
ing  their  place  in  our  American  Democracy.  Theoret- 
ical findings ;  Genetic  psychologists,  Anthropologists, 
Sociologists.     Conclusion. 

CHAPTER  XXIII  — ^  Socio-Ethnic  Problem  229 

The  problem  stated;  synthetization  with  other  racial 
strains  in  America. 

CHAPTER   XXIV  — Does    This    Type    Contribute   to   American 

Democracy  f   233 

He  is  easily  assimilable.  He  is  himself  creative.  He 
is  fertile  and  facile  with  respect  to  both  imitaton  and 
initiation.  He  is  intelligent  and  can  become  delibera- 
tive and  rational.  He  is  law-abiding.  Ignores  the  in- 
stitutions of  adults  or  parents  that  are  purely  Italian 
(their  banks,  newspapers,  hospitals,  societies,  are  un- 
satisfactory to  him).  Does  not  retain  language,  reli- 
gion, habits  and  ways  of  parents.    His  voluntary  organ- 


CONTENTS  X 

izations  are  of  a  reflection  of  Americanism  and  are 
largely  tinged  with  American  culture.  Organizations 
created  are  various  and  cover  every  field.  Where  none 
exists  the  proficient  American  of  Italian  extraction  has 
entered  so  fully  into  the  life  and  spirit  of  America  that 
none  is  needed.  An  absence  of  an  organization  does 
not  show  a  lack  of  cooperation  or  ability  to  organize 
but  that  absorption  has  been  complete. 

CHAPTER  XXV  —  Symposium  (looo  questionnaires) 237 

What  the  American  of  Italian  extration  loses.  What 
the  American  of  Italian  extraction  gains.  What  the 
American  of  Italian  extraction  contributes.  Statistical 
tables. 

CHAPTER  XXVI  —  Some  Positive  Measures  of  Reform  284 

How  to  economically  preserve  the  high  powers  of  the 
raw  immigrant  and  facilitate  the  process  of  synthetiza- 
tion.  Abolition  of  "Padrone"  system.  Regulation  and 
control  of  unemployment.  Elimination  of  disease.  Re- 
creation. Socially  prepare  for  a  more  frictionless  mix- 
ing. Different  attitude  of  mind.  Education.  Politically 
distribute  a  greater  share  of  executive  leadership  to 
such  as  are  fit. 

CHAPTER  XXVII  —  Conclusions 304 

General:  This  is  a  study  in  Americanization.     The  in- 
fluence of  the  community  in  determining  types.    Speci- 
fic: Sociological  status  of  Americans  of  Italian  extrac- 
tion in  New  York  City.     Their  "contributions,"  "loses"   ' 
and  "gains."    What  the  future  has  in  store. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY  ; 311 


CHAPTER  I 
NATURE  AND  EXTENT  OF  INVESTIGATION 

PURPOSE— What  is  there  about  the  American  of 
Italian  extraction  that  distinguishes  him  from  other 
Americans?  Is  there  a  real  difference?  The  Ameri- 
cans of  Italian  extraction  that  are  studied  here  form  one 
of  the  largest  elements  numerically  in  our  population. 
Before  any  adequate  understanding  of  them  is  to  be 
had  a  thoroughly  modern  and  scientific  sociological  sur- 
vey needs  to  be  made  with  respect  to  their  individual 
natures  and  their  concerted  or  group  reactions. 

The  purpose  of  this  study  is  to  afford  a  sociological 
evaluation  of  the  psychological  traits  and  social  organ- 
ization of  this  type  of  American,  based  upon  a  first  hand 
investigation  of  the  type  in  question.  Personal  experi- 
ence gained  through  a  variety  of  contacts  with  these 
people,  supplemented  by  information  gained  in  interviev\'s 
with  people  who  are  closest  to  this  problem  afforded  the 
bulk  of  the  evidence  analyzed.  Where  personal  inter- 
views were  out  of  the  question,  in  many  cases  it  was 
possible  to  get  at  the  ideas  that  exist  regarding  these 
people  by  means  of  a  questionnaire  described  in  a  later 
chi^pter.  The  information  gathered  from  the  above 
sources  and  elsewhere,  as  will  be  described  later,  is  used 
to  denote  the  sociological  status  of  Americans  of  Italian 
extraction  in  New  York  City.  These  Americans,  like 
the  second  generation  of  Americans  of  other  racial 
stocks,  form  an  integral  part  of  our  American  popula- 
tion, distinct  and  apart  from  our  immigrant  population 
"per  se."  Whereas  in  the  past  in  considering  the  status 
of  the  racial  elements  within  our  borders  one's  chief 
attention  or  interest  centered  upon  a  type  that  was  either 
foreign  or  Americanized  through  the  legal  naturaliza- 
tion process,  here  the  emphasis  is  to  be  placed  upon  a 
type  that  to  begin  with  is  AMERICAN.  From  a  mere 
description,  therefore,  of  types  that  have  characterized 
studies  of  the  past,  we  pass  on  to  an  attempt  to  analyze 
the  character  and  measure  the  force  of  the  contribution. 


2  THE  ITALIAN  CONTRIBUTION 

if  contribution  there  be,  that  these  Americans  of  Italian 
blood  make  to  our  older  American  life,  customs,  and 
ways  of  doing  things. 

The  main  purpose  of  this  study,  therefore,  is,  (1)  to 
intelligently  interpret  Americans  of  Italian  extraction 
to  other  Americans  by  pointing  out  what  the  fundamen- 
tal characteristics  of  this  type  of  American  are  as  re- 
flected through  their  social  organization  and  other  visi- 
ble activities ;  (2)  to  interpret  these  activities  from  the 
standpoint  of  what  we  understand  Americanisfm  to  mean 
and  (3)  to  show  what  and  how  much  this  type  of  Amer- 
ican is  contributing  towards  the  solution  of  the  prob- 
lem peculiar  to  America,  namely,  the  synthetization  of 
her  composite  population  groups  and  the  evolving  of  a 
stable  American  type. 

SCOPE — This  study  is  limited  to  those  Americans  of 
Italian  blood  that  were  either  born  here  or  who  came 
here  when  they  were  very  young.  It  excludes  the  adult 
immigrant  who  as  a  rule,  among  the  Italian  stock  at 
least,  is  so  thoroughly  ingrained  with  the  traditions  of 
the  "homeland"  that  he  himself  is  neither  able  to  be 
affected  in  any  very  radical  way  through  his  contacts 
with  our  institutions  nor  to  contribute  creatively  to  our 
American  Democracy. 

Likewise  the  activities  described  and  evaluated  here 
are  limited  to  those  whose  origin  and  existence  strictly 
depend  upon  such  Americans  as  above  indicated,  and  not 
upon  the  immigrant. 

For  various  reasons  the  writer  has  seen  fit  to  limit 
this  study  to  Americans  of  Italian  extraction  domiciled 
on  Manhattan  Island  and  in  its  immediate  environs  i.  e. 
parts  of  what  are  known  as  and  make  up  the  "Greater 
City,"  viz :  Brooklyn,  Queens,  Bronx  and  Richmond. 

The  reasons  for  this  limitation  are  obvious.  First 
for  purely  physical  reasons  it  has  been  impossible  to 
subject  to  the  same  uniform  scrutiny  and  thoroughness 
of  investigation  the  dense  colonies  of  individuals  similar 
in  descent  and  located  at  such  diverse  places  as  Newark, 
San  Francisco,  Denver,  Los  Angeles,  New  Orleans,  etc.; 
second,  the  problem  of  investigating  this  type  is  nowhere 
so  pressing  as  it  is  here  (more  individuals,  taking  both 


TO  AMEiaGA.M>,i>EM©CRACY 


our  type  in  questioji^^]^J:.t|^eir  Jnim^diate  parents,  live 
here  than  in  Naples,  the  largest  city  of  Italy);  third, 
practically  every  socio-economic  problem  that  exists 
elsewhere  among  these  people  is  duplicated  here;  fourth, 
the  opportunity  for  making  comparisons  v^ith  other  races 
exists  here  in  the  most  marked  degree ;  fifth,  the  nature 
of  the  "milieu"  or  human  nature  stuff  in  and  among 
which  this  American  is  reacting,  is  in  itself  a  potent  fac- 
tor in  determining  the  nature  of  his  reactions,  and  there- 
fore not  only  numbers,  but  diversity  of  races  is  a  fac- 
tor to  be  considered ;  sixth,  the  nufherical  factor  involved 
in  making  a  study  in  New  York  City  rather  than  else- 
where is  a  happy  one,  in  that  we  have  a  more  just  basis 
for  making  deductions ;  lastly.  New  York  City  combines 
in  its  outlying  districts,  namely  in  Queens  and  Staten 
Island,  the  looser  and  more  spread  out  or  sparsely  set- 
tled character  of  the  colonies  composed  of  Americans 
of  Italian  extraction  existing  elsewhere. 

The  method  used  in  this  survey  will  vary.  Wherever 
possible,  the  statistical  method  will  be  employed.  By 
means  of  statistical  data,  an  attempt  will  be  made  to 
point  out,  quantitative  measurements  permitting,  the 
numbers  of  these  people  and  their  sociological  position 
in  the  community.  These  will  be  evaluated  sociologically 
in  the  light  of  comparisons  made  with  the  products  of 
other  racial  stocks.  For  instance,  it  is  a  fact  often  de- 
plored of  the  Italian  stock  that  relief  work  among  the 
Italians  in  New  York  City  is  largely  dependent  upon  the 
initiative  and  leadership  of  persons  other  than  those  of 
Italian  blood.  An  instance  in  point  is  the  case  of  the 
numerous  war  relief  societies  that  sprang  up  during  the 
war  and  whose  aim  was  to  bring  succor  to  the  Italian 
portion  of  our  war's  destitute.  To  a  casual  observer, 
such  a  condition  among  a  people  numbering  easily  the 
third  or  fourth  largest  element  in  our  population  might 
mistakenly  betray  a  lack  either  of  leadership  or  of  the 
power  of  cooperation,  and  as  such  it  has  not  infre- 
quently been  c'hanacterized.  It  more  truly  instances, 
however,  the  uniform  lack  of  great  financial  men  of 
Italian  extraction  in  New  York  City.  As  evidence  of  this 
witness  the  names  Morgan,  Davison  and  Lamont — all 


4  THE  ITALIAN  CONTRIBUTION 

prominent  in  charity  work  among  Italian  speaking  peo- 
ple here. 

On  the  basis  of  the  figures  shown  in  the  numerous 
tables  throughout,  and  the  comparisons  that  these  tables 
afford,  some  deductions  regarding  the  value  of  the  type 
under  surveillance  will  be  attempted.  It  will  be  noticed 
that  our  method  is  not  primarily  that  of  an  intensive 
study  of  individual  cases ;  but  rather,  an  extensive  study 
of  the  larger  sociological  relationships  has  been  the  end 
held  in  view  throughout.  Where  so  many  are  concerned 
one  would  get  nowhere  if  the  former  method  were  tried. 
In  fact,  there  are  plenty  of  institutions  where  such  stud- 
ies can  better  be  made.  In  this  way  only  was  it  possible 
to  get  a  perspective  of  the  tendency  towards  which  the 
type  is  gravitating,  and  to  distinguish  the  subtypes  and 
varieties  into  which,  as  all  indications  point,  the  Italian 
strain  is  beginning  to  ramify,  just  as  the  older  German, 
Scotch-Irish,  and  English  did  some  decades  ago. 

SOURCES — The  sources  for  the  interpretations  set 
forth  are  mainly  gathered  from  a  first  hand  study  of  the 
people  in  question  themselves,  gained  by  the  writer 
throug'h  a  constant  and  intimate  contact  as  one  of  them 
in  their  play,  school,  and  work.  Back  of  this  similarity 
of  origin  and  supplementing  this  original  contact  lies  the 
writer's  experience,  extending  throughout  five  years  as 
a  social  worker  for  the  Children's  Aid  Society  of  this 
city,  and  as  "Special  National  Field  Scout  Commissioner" 
with  the  Boy  Scouts  of  America,  permitting  him  to  do 
organizing  and  executive  work  among  Italian  colonies 
all  over  the  United  States.  These  afforded  an  unparal- 
leled opportunity  for  studying  the  nature  of  the  various 
kinds  of  organizations  effected  by  these  people  as  well 
as  for  observing  practically  all  of  their  other  activities. 

The  writer's  position  made  it  possible  for  him  to  come 
in  contact  with  and  interview  many  of  the  most  promi- 
nent Americans  of  Italian  blood  in  New  York  City  who 
are  today  actually  engaged  in  mastering  this  problem 
of  social  interpretation  and  their  testimony  forms  a  sub- 
stantial part  of  this  study.  Relative  to  this  problem,  it 
has  been  deemed  advisable  also  to  insert  statements  of 
Italians  who  are  in  our  midst,  causing    to    stand    out 


TO  AMERICAN  DEMOCRACY  5 

clearer  by  way  of  contrast,  the  information  gained  from 
those  who,  remaining  essentially  Italian  in  their 
thoughts,  actions,  and  speech,  are  looking  at  American- 
ization from  another  angle. 

Lastly,  the  views  of  representative  Americans  of  other 
ancestry  than  Italian,  whose  work  or  studies  make  their 
ideas  valuable,  are  utilized,  and,  some  of  them  have  ex- 
pressed themselves  upon  a  concrete  phase  of  these  peo- 
ple's activities.  Many  such  Americans  have  spent  their 
lives  in  a  devoted  service  to  the  welfare  and  uplift  of 
Italians,  and  the  representative  character  of  their  of- 
fices can  be  fairly  assumed  to  insure  the  widest  latitude 
for  fairness  and  disinterestedness  in  their  expressions. 
All  these  facts  are  incorporated  in  the  questionnaire  de- 
veloped on  pages  238  to  373  inclusive. 

The  writer  has  also  not  failed  to  supplement  his  per- 
sonal experience  with  a  prolific  use  of  the  statistical 
records  compiled  by  government  officials,  the  publications 
of  the  Census  Bureau,  reports  from  social  welfare  and 
Americanizing  agencies.  In  all  cases  where  such  data 
have  been  used,  credit  has  been  given  and  the  source 
duly  recorded. 


THE  ITALIAN  CONTRIBUTION 


CHAPTER  II 

DIFFICULTIES    UNDERLYING    AN    INVESTIGATION    OF 
THE   ITALIAN   ELEMENT 

DIFFICULTY  OF  COLLECTING  DATA— The  adult 
Italian  is  untrained  and  natively  suspicious  and  yet  be- 
fore one  can  fairly  or  adequately  interpret  this  rising 
generation  of  Americans  it  is  absolutely  essential  that 
the  observer  know  something  of  the  individual  type  from 
which  he  sprang.  One  must  become  familiar  with  the 
conditions  that  beset  this  problem  and  make  it  distinc- 
tive. Collecting  information  from  the  "untutored"  is  not 
without  its  own  difficulties. 

The  majority  of  Italian  immigrants  who  seek  our 
shores  are  driven  here  by  stern  economic  necessity.*  The 
hope  of  securing  a  better  livelihood,  the  desire  for  the 
greater  individual  liberty  that  comes  from  added  leisure, 
and,  with  some,  the  anticipated  savings  which  will  make 
it  possible  for  them  to  return  and  live  out  their  remain- 
ing years  in  the  "homeland"  in  comparative  opulence  in 
return  for  the  hazards  undertaken — formed  in  the  past 
as  in  the  present  the  greatest  of  impelling  motives.  How 
closely  related  to  the  phenomenon  of  immigration  was 
the  pressure  of  the  population  upon  the  means  of  sub- 
sistence in  Italy  is  shown  by  the  Italian  census  in  1881 
when  the  population  was  257  to  the  square  mile,  and  two 
decades  or  twenty  years  later  when  in  spite  of  the  great 
annual  afflux  to  both  North  and  South  America  this  den- 
sity had  increased  to  294  per  square  mile.  • 

*  "Italy  even  today  is  in  the  unique  position  of  seeing  her 
population  increase  with  the  going  on  of  war.  This  apparent 
paradox  is  easily  explained  if  one  remembers  that  several  hun- 
dreds of  thousands  of  Italians  returned  from  abroad  to  serve 
under  her  colors  ;  and  that  had  it  not  been  for  the  war  Italy 
would  have  lost  by  emigration  about  half  a  million  men  and 
women  each  year  for  the  past  four  years.  The  war  by  prevent- 
ing emigration  has  kept  all  that  population  at  home  thus  in- 
creasing Italy's  population  at  a  rate  far  greater  than  in  time 
of  peace  in  spite  of  the  war  losses,"  (Statement  by  Dr.  Felice 
Ferrero,  Director,  Italian  Bureau  for  Public  Information,  Sat- 
urday Post,  July  20,  1918.) 


TO  AMERICAN  DEMOCRACY  7 

On  the  whole  the  class  of  Italians  that  comes  here  rep- 
resents the  element  lowest  in  the  socio-economic  scale 
that  Italy  possesses.  This  is  to  say  that  the  stratum  of 
Italian  life  in  which  the  margin  of  economic  subsistence 
has  followed  most  closely  and  pressed  most  heavily  upon 
the  margin  of  possible  economic  resistance,  has  been  the 
class  that  has  poured  its  legions  into  our  midst.  Such 
people  have  had  little  opportunity  in  life,  are  untrained 
and  as  a  rule,  offer  less  intelligent  contact  to  one  gath- 
ering data  than  would  otherwise  be  the  case.  Their  sus- 
picion and  distrust  make  it  difficult  to  secure  reliable  in- 
formation. 

RECENCY  OF  ITALIAN  IMMIGRATION— Another 
consideration  is  the  comparative  recency  of  Italian  im- 
migration. Emigration  from  Southeastern  Europe  be- 
gan about  1880  and  is  the  most  recent  of  the  great  emi- 
gration movements  from  the  continent  to  our  shores. 
The  Italian  makes  up  a  large  portion  of  this  newest  wave 
of  immigration  and  at  the  outbreak  of  the  war  in  1914 
represented  the  country  that  sent  over  the  greatest 
number. 

With  the  immigrant  the  chief  problem  is  to  secure  a 
position ;  his  next  is  to  see  to  it  that  it  is  permanent. 
Arthur  Train  says  in  speaking  of  the  Italian  immigration 
movement  to  this  country  "it  would  take  a  generation 
for  these  people  of  the  old  world  to  get  out  of  their  sys- 
tems the  tradition  that  in  some  ways  they  are  bound  to 
the  soil  where  they  serve  and  cannot  leave  it ;  a  genera- 
tion for  them  to  realize  that  they  are  free  to  come  and 
go  and  to  take  part  in  the  activities,  political  and  other- 
\^ise  of  the  nation  at  large.  Herein  lies  the  difference 
between  the  old  im'migrant,  the  adult  Italian,'-^  the  man 
who  seeks  refuge  in  America  for  his  declining  years  and 
the  boy  of  twelve,  fifteen  or  eighteen  the  American  of  Italian 
extraction^"^  who  has  life  all  before  ihim.  The  older  man  is 
set  in  his  ideas.  This  is  shown  in  New  York  City  in  the 
Genoese  districts  where  the  grandfather  who  came  to 
this  country  took  up  his  abode  and  where  he  still  lives." 
Such  an  individual  rarely  hopes  for  much  else.     Leader- 

*  Italics  are  ours. 
♦*  ditto 


8  THE  ITALIAN  CONTRIBUTION 

ship,  if  it  be  there,  is  largely  confined  to  work  in  the 
Italian  community  and  such  individuals  become  semi- 
patriarchal  potentates  giving  advice,  alleviating  suffer- 
ing and  even  dispensing  justice.  Cooperation  is  invaria- 
bly confined  to  others  who  have  come  over  from  Italy 
with  them  and  from  the  same  town.  The  radius  of  their 
circle  of  cooperation  is  practically  zero  when  Americans 
of  other  stocks  are  concerned.  Their  own  internal  co- 
operation serves  to  set  them  off  as  a  group  apart  and 
they  act  as  a  community  within  a  community.  This  holds 
true  for  all  nationalities  and  is  a  psychical  not  a  racial 
characteristic.  This  exclusive  character  of  adult  Italian 
life  therefore  offers  great  difficulty  to  outsiders  gather- 
ing data,  and  information  which  on  the  surface  of  things 
appears  reliable  may  easily  lead  to  gross  errors  in  inter- 
pretation. Differences  in  dialects,  customs,  habits  of  life, 
in  some  instances  represent  wide  cleavages ;  in  other  in- 
stances such  differences  are  more  apparent  than  real. 

NORTHERN  AND  SOUTHERN  ITALIAN  — By  far 
the  majority  of  the  immigrants  from  Italy  have  come 
from  its  southern  districts ;  few  from  the  north.  One  can- 
not fail  to  be  impressed  with  the  wide  differences  that 
exist  educationally  and  socially  between  the  North  and 
South  Italian.  These  differences  however  are  not  inher- 
ent in  the  type  but  reflect  the  better  economic  advantages 
that  North  Italy  affords. 

It  is  not  surprising  therefore  to  find  these  people  men- 
tally lowest  in  the  scale  of  culture  among  immigrants 
that  come  to  our  shores.  Some  years  ago  when,  with  a 
million  or  more  of  immigrants  pouring  into  our  midst, 
the  problem  had  become  acutest,  statistics  showed  that 
seventy  percent  of  the  immigrants  from  southern  Italy 
were  illiterate. 

The  great  disparity  in  mental  and  material  cultures 
between  the  northern  and  the  southern  adult  Italian  im- 
migrant is  reduced  to  a  nullity  in  the  case  of  their  off- 
spring, showing  the  powerful  levelling  influence  of 
American  democracy  and  systems  of  education. 

UNSETTLED  PROBLEMS  —  Interested  as  we  are  in 
ascertaining  what  the  value  of  the  descendants  of  these 
people  is  in  our  democracy,  we  shall  try  to  center  our 


TO  AMERICAN  DEMOCRACY  9 

attention  upon  several  facts  that  in  a  democracy  are  of 
the  greatest  moment.  First  with  respect  to  the  question 
of  "leadership."  On  the  basis  of  the  activities  disclosed  in 
the  section  on  Social  Organization  with  reference  parti- 
cularly to  New  York  City,  we  are  to  raise  the  question, 
"Is  the  American  of  Italian  extraction  deficient  with  re- 
spect to  the  qualities  that  make  for  leadership?"  So 
many  people  say  that  if  an  undertaking  centering  chiefly 
upon  matters  that  affect  the  Italian  is  to  be  successful  it 
must  be  organized  and  managed  by  others  than  those  of 
Italian  blood!  Equally  serious  is  the  charge  that  a  lack 
of  cooperation  exists  among  these  people  and  that  their 
relative  disorganization  is  shown  in  the  variegated  sec- 
tions within  the  Italian  colony  itself  where  on  one  street 
lives  a  type  that  has  customs  and  habits  entirely  distinct 
from  the  customs  and  habits  of  those  occupying  the  next 
street.  "Is  this  lack  of  cooperation  more  apparent  than 
real?"  Finally  and  most  important  we  are  interested  in 
knowing  if  what  the  American  of  Italian  extraction 
brings  to  us  is  a  pro  rata  share  towards  the  creation  of 
the  type  of  mind  and  character  of  institution  that  we 
can  label  as  being  distinctively  AMERICAN. 

It  is  not  expected  that  questions  such  as  those  above 
will  be  settled  by  this  study.  It  is  sufficient,  if  by  rais- 
ing these  issues,  it  will  become  more  apparent  than  was 
hitherto  true,  that  a  great  deal  of  the  internal  racial 
problems  of  America  are  due  to  SOCIAL  MAL-AD- 
JUSTMENTS  in  immigrant  localities  rather  than  to 
any  inherent  defect  of  mental  traits — thus  raising  a  prob- 
lem, essentially  sociological  rather  than  psychological, 
for  the  future  to  solve. 

REASONS  FOR  INVESTIGATION— «One  may  ask 
for  the  reasons  of  a  study  of  this  kind.  There  are  many 
reasons  why  a  study  of  this  description  is  useful.  The 
chief  one  is  a  lack  of  definite  sociological  data  regard- 
ing the  second  generation  of  Americans  of  Italian  ori- 
gin. Equally  important  is  such  a  study  because  as  the 
writer  believes,  with  the  detailed  sociological  and  psy- 
chological study  of  racial  groups  such  as  this  is,  there 
will  be  less  of  that  forwardness  on  the  part  of  some 
individuals  to  assert  superiority  for  any  one  group.     It 


10  THE  ITALIAN  CONTRIBUTION 

will  more  clearly  be  seen  how  much  is  due  to  opportunity 
and  environment  and  how  little  to  race  superiority,  if 
such  a  thing  exist  at  all.  Again,  with  regard  to  the  pro- 
cess of  Americanization,  it  is  desired  that  chief  attention 
be  given  to  aspects  of  synthetization. 

Not  unimportant  also  is  this  study  in  defining  anew  for 
us  the  term  ''democracy"  and  the  help  that  such  a  study 
gives  in  reminding  us  of  the  need  of  keeping  constantly 
in  the  foreground  the  fact  that  for  us,  as  yet,  democracy 
needs  to  be  continually  redefined;  that  it  is  not  a  com- 
plete and  finished  thing  but  is  being  constantly  moulded 
and  shaped  in  accordance  with  our  changing  socio-po- 
litico-economic  conditions.  It  can  clearly  be  seen,  there- 
fore, that  such  a  study  is  of  great  value  in  increasing 
the  means  whereby  we  can  rationally  and  intelligently 
direct  our  Americanizing  movements,  and  is  of  inesti- 
mable importance  in  marking  out  a  clear  line  between 
the  old  emphasis  of  the  past,  which  was  built  chiefly 
around  an  alien,  and  the  new,  which  aims  to  focus  its 
fullest  rays  of  light  upon  those  individuals  who,  to  be- 
gin with,  are  distinctly  AMERICAN.  Lastly,  if  we 
wish,  we  might  read  into  this  study,  in  so  far  as  the  Ital- 
ian strain  is  concerned,  at  any  rate,  something  con- 
cerning the  rate  of  success  that  our  social  institutions 
are  meeting  with  in  their  endeavor  to  turn  out  normal 
Americans. 


TO  AMERICAN  DEMOCRACY  11 

PART  II 

SURVEY  OF  SOCIO-ECONOMIC  CONDITIONS 

CHAPTER  III 

POPULATION  AND  DISTRIBUTION 

DIFFICULTIES  OF  ACCURATE  ENUMERATION 
— It  is  difficult  to  ascertain  with  absolute  accuracy  the 
number  of  Americans  of.  Italian  extraction  located  in 
the  greater  city.  The  reason  for  this  is  that  no  organi- 
zation, social,  educational,  political  or  religious  exists 
today  which  is  sufficiently  interested  in  collecting  and 
keeping  statistics  of  the  type  of  American  under  con- 
sideration here  apart  from  Americans  of  other  racial 
stocks. 

If  one  were  to  attempt  this  task  the  ideal  method 
would  be  a  house  to  house  canvass.  The  thousands  of 
homes  that  would  thus  have  to  be  canvassed  make  this 
impossible.  Instead  therefore,  the  figures  of  this  pop- 
ulation under  investigation  are  derived  from  other 
sources.* 

The  only  study  ever  made  and  bearing  on  this  problem 
is  not  a  recent  one  and  many  changes  have  occurred 
since  to  modify  the  findings  then  reported  ,  As  an  ap- 
proximation tho  it  can  still  be  instructive.  In  1903  the 
Italian  Chamber  of  Commerce  decided  to  find  out  how 
many  Italians  were  domiciled  in  both  the  City  and  the 
State  of  New  York. 

♦Since  the  war  Italian  immigration  has  become  nil.  Never- 
theless, the  process  of  Americanization  is  still  going  on  among 
those  who  have  come  here  from  Italy  and  among  their  de- 
scendents.  As  these  latter  people  become  more  and  more  ma- 
ture, they  move  away  from  the  settlement  formerly  inhabited 
and  locate  elsewhere.  It  is  safe  to  say  that  nine  out  of  every 
ten  such  individuals  the  moment  it  is  possible  for  them  to  do 
so  move  out  and  locate  elsewhere  than  in  the  original  set- 
tlement of  the  parent,  thereby  mingling  inextricably  with 
Americans  of  other  extractions.  Because  of  this  fact  and  also 
because  of  a  definite  percentage  who  thru  marriage  become 
inseparably  intermingled  with  other  stocks  any  attempt  to 
deal  conclusively  with  the  numbers  of  Americans  of  Italian 
blood  in  New  York  City  is  well-nigh  futile. 


12  THE  ITALIAN  CONTRIBUTION 

A  committee  was  appointed  of  which  Giovanni  Bran- 
c'hi,  then  Consul  General,  was  chairman.  This  commit- 
tee reported  the  following  data : 

RESIDENT  ITALIANS 
NEW  YORK  STATE  NEW  YORK  CITY 

272,572  (pop.  in  1900)  225,026  (pop.   in    1900) 

18,322  (excess  of  births  over      14,121  (excess  of  births  over 

deaths)  deaths) 

195,281  (excess       of       arrivals     143,628  (excess       of       arrivals 
over    departures)  over    departures) 


486,175  (total  1903)  382,775  (total  1903) 

The  large  excess  of  births  over  deaths  is  testimony  to 
the  high  vitality  of  the  race  while  the  high  preponder- 
ance of  male  entrants  as  compared  to  females  is  an  in- 
dication of  the  type's  economic  possibilities. 

Various  other  writers  have  at  times  attempted  to  cal- 
culate the  distribution  of  Italian  blood  in  New  York  City. 
Professor  Willcox  figured  that  in  1900  the  Italian  popu- 
lation in  New  York  City  was  145,433.*  The  last  census 
in  1910  found  340,322  Italians  residing  here  who  had  been 
born  in  Italy.  A  great  many  of  these  tho  came  here  at  a 
very  early  age;  to  be  exact  10.4%  came  to  this  country 
before  their  fourteenth  birthday  and  therefore  are  eli- 
gible for  inclusion  in  this  study.  Altogether  in  1910 
there  were  531,857  Italian  speaking  people  domiciled  in 
Greater  New  York  from  which  those  born  in  Italy, 
namely  340,322,  are  to  be  subtracted  leaving  us  a  total 
of  191,535  Americans  of  Italian  extraction  residing  here 
for  the  year  1910.  To  this  are  to  be  added  the  subse- 
quent births  for  the  ensuing  years.  These  latter  figures 
are  206,163  distributed  by  years,  viz : 

NUMBER  OF  REPORTED  BIRTHS  OF  ITALIAN  PARENT- 
AGE IN  NEW  YORK  CITY** 

1911—28,290 

1912—29,600 

1913—29,533 

1914—31,023 

1915—29,717 

1916—29,011 

1917—28,989 


Total— 206,163 
♦Quarterly  Journal  of  Economics,  Vol.  20,  pp.  523-46 
**Thru  courtesy  of  Dr.  Wm.  H.  Guilfoy,  Registrar  of  Records, 
Department  of  Health. 


TO  AMERICAN  DEMOCRACY  i3 

From  1911  to  1917  one  million  seven  thousand  Italians 
entered  this  country  but  from  this  number  the  801,792 
that  returned  are  to  be  subtracted.*  Of  the  205,208  that 
remained  only  24  per  cent  or  49,249  located  in  New  York 
City.  This  last  added  to  the  340,322  persons  of  foreign- 
born  Italian  stock  here  in  1910  raises  the  present  popu- 
lation representing  the  older  generation  to  389,571.  The 
deaths  for  the  Italian  strain  since  1910  have  averaged 
in  any  one  representative  year  10.24  per  thousand  popu- 
lation.** This  permits  us  to  deduct  27,923  and  28,504 
from  the  figures  representing  the  older  and  the  younger 
generations  respectively,  leaving  a  final  grand  total  of 
730,842  Italian  speaking  people  domiciled  in  New  York 
City.  These  computations  include  both  the  adult  Italian 
and  his  offspring  the  American  of  Italian  extraction.  In 
tabular  for^m  these  figures  compared  to  the  total  popu- 
lation of  the  Greater  City  are : 

ITALIAN  BLOOD  IN  POPULATION  OF  NEW  YORK  CITY, 

1917 

Total  Italian-speaking  Population 


v> 

to 

3 

n 

1-1 

Cu 

•-t 

O 
n 

r> 

O 

o 

O  n> 

°z 

P  q 

P 

►3   P 

^  ^ 

.—  3 

P  ^ 

>—  n 

•  pj 

1—  o 

? 

P  ^ 

4 

Rl' 

?l 

o 

?  p 

> 

•p  p 

►-t 

K| 

p 

Cu 

3 

O- 

n 

o' 

w' 

j_j. 

o 

^ 

►-1 

3 

3 

O 

o 

1880a 

1,911,698 

12,223b 

6 

X 

1890 

2,507,414 

74,687 

3 

40,190 

2 

1900 

3,437,202 

145,429 

4 

74,168b 

2.5 

1910 

4,769,883 

340,322 

7 

191,545 

4 

1917 

5,748,629c 

361,648 

6 

369,194d 

6 

a  In  1850  the  Italian  portion  of  this  country's  population  was 
so  small  as  to  be  negligible  amounting  to  but  0.2%.  (Century 
of  Pop.  &  Growth.  Bur.  of  Census,  p.  130) 

b  Foerster,  R.  F.    The  Italian  Emigration  of  Our  Times,  p.  325. 

c  New  York  City  Board  of  Health  figures. 

d  Computed  from  original  data  furnished  thru  kindness  of  Dr. 
Guilfoy. 

X  Negligible  owing  to  large  percentage  of  early  returns  to 
homeland  and  scarcity  of  females. 


14  THE  ITALIAN  CONTRIBUTION 

For  the  first  and  second  generations  of  Italian  blood 
alone  the  figures  given  below  are  arranged  to  include 
not  as  Italians  but  as  Americans  the  10.4  per  cent  of  the 
entire  Italian  foreign  born  population  of  this  city  that 
entered  who  had  not  attained  their  fourteenth  birthday. 
These  individuals,  notwithstanding  their  foreign  birth, 
are  for  our  purposes  here  classed  as  Americans  of  Ital- 
ian origin  because  the  plastic  state  of  both  their  minds 
and  bodies  will  unquestionably  render  them  extremely 
susceptible  to  American  ideas  and  education.  They  rep- 
resent a  type  different  from  the  adult  Italian  who  is  so 
ingrained  with  the  traditions  of  the  "homeland"  that  he 
himself  is  neither  able  to  be  affected  in  any  very  radical 
way  by  American  conditions  nor  to  contribute  creatively 
to  American  democracy.  Some  of  the  biggest  leaders 
of  the  second  generation  of  Italians  in  New  York  City 
as  well  as  some  of  the  most  promising  material  now  at- 
tending our  schools  and  universities  are  of  this  class.  It 
it  curious  and  interesting  to  note  in  this  connection  that 
the  only  two  books  intelligently  written  on  the  subject 
of  Italians  in  America  and  recently  published  should  be 
written  by  individuals  of  this  type  who  having  been  born 
in  Italy  came  here  before  their  14th  birthday.  Wm.  P. 
Schriver  and  Dean  George  Hodges  in  writing  the  pre- 
faces for  "Sons  of  Italy"  by  Antonio  Mangano  and  "So- 
cial and  Religious  Life  of  Italians  in  America"  by  Henry 
C.  Sartorio  both  make  mention  of  this  fact. 

Instead  of  tabulating  the  figures  below  as  "first"  and 
"second"  generation  it  is  more  proper  to  label  them  as 
"Italian"  and  "American  of  Italian  extraction."  For  the 
entire  city  the  figures  are : 

THE  ITALIAN  SPEAKING  POPULATION  OF  NEW  YORK 
CITY— 1917 
TYPE  NUMBER  PERCENT 

Italians  324,037  44.3 

Americans  of  Italian  extraction  406,805  55.7 

TOTAL  730,842  100.0 

*  Compiled  from  Annual  Reports  of  Commissioner-General 
of   Immigration. 

**  Actual  death  rate  for  Italians  in  New  York  City  in  1915. 
(vide,  Guilfoy.  Influence  of  Nationality  upon  Mortality  of  a 
Community,  Monograph  Series,  1917,  No.  18,  p.  26. 


TO  AMERICAN  DEMOCRACY  15 

Other  writers  make  the  figures  a  little  lower.  An- 
tonio Mangano  in  a  very  excellent  book  referred  to  above 
figures  that  the  Italians  in  New  York  City  approximate 
600,000.*  Others  put  it  at  700,000.**  The  more  recent 
writers  accept  this-f  Corporation  Counsel  Burr  before 
a  recent  meeting  of  the  Academy  of  Political  Science  said 
that  there  were  more  Italians  here  than  there  were  in 
Naples.  If  this  ir  so  not  only  would  the  approximate 
figures  of  700,000  be  true  but  it  would  make  of  this  city 
the  greatest  Italian  center  in  the  world. 

DENSITY — By  density  is  meant  the  number  of  per- 
sons to  each  square  mile  of  land  area.  No  very  recent 
figures  exist  for  comparing  the  densities  of  the  various 
racial  groupings  scattered  thruout  the  city.  Certainly, 
the  Italian  colonyj  located  at  Mulberry  Bend  Park  is  as 
densely  populated  as  any  other  section  of  the  city.  Not 
very  long  ago  it  was  found  that  the  most  densely  popu- 
lated spot  in  the  world  was  located  somewhere  in  the 
section   around    10th   and   11th   avenues,   north   of   34th 

♦Published  by  the  Missionary  Education  Movement,  156 
Fifth  Avenue,  New  York  City.  (Mangano  takes  no  account  of 
the  population  increase  since  the  last  1910  census). 

**  World  Outlook;  Italian  Number,  October  1909.  ed.  Willard 
Price. 

t  Train,  Arthur,  "Unhooking  the  Hyphen,"  Saturday  Evening 
Post,  August  10th,  1918. 

t  One  great  difficulty  universally  experienced  in  writings 
dealing  with  people  of  Italian  blood  is  the  haphazard  and  loose 
way  in  which  the  term  Italian  is  used  to  designate  individuals. 
If  an  individual's  name  ends  with  a  vowel,  he  is  classed  as  an 
Italian  tho  he  may  have  come  from  stock  that  was  born  in  this 
country,  as  is  true  particularly  of  a  large  group  of  Genoese 
located  around  the  Five  Points  section  in  Mulberry  Bend. 
Italians  who  have  come  from  Italy  and  who  have  never  been 
naturalized,  Italians  who  after  having  lived  here  a  greater 
or  less  number  of  years,  have  become  naturalized  and  there- 
fore are  Americans,  and  Americans  born  of  Italian  stock,  and 
Americans  born  of  Americanized  Italians — all  are  promiscu- 
ously lumped  together  and  dealt  with  as  tho  they  were  of  a 
likv.  class.  Very  often  the  gulf  between  them  is  wide.  This 
stuay  thruout  uses  the  terms  "Italian,"  and  "American  of  Ital- 
ian extraction,"  the  two  main  types,  very  guardedly  and  de- 
precates the  use  of  careless  language  with  its  consequent  con- 
fusion, described  above. 


16  THE  ITALIAN  CONTRIBUTION 

Street  and  south  of  59th  Street  and  that  there  were  lo- 
cated in  this  section  11,000  persons  to  the  acre.* 

The  survey  of  the  Federation  of  Churches,  conducted 
in  1904  found  the  block  bounded  by  Second  and  Third 
streets,  Ave  B  to  Ave.  C  (a  Jewish  block)  to  have  4,105 
residents  and  "this  appears  by  a  comparison  of  all  the 
blocks  of  the  Tenement  House  Report  to  be  the  largest 
population  within  four  streets  of  Manhattan."  Dr.  Laid- 
law  adds  however  that  while  it  may  be  the  most  popu- 
lated it  need  not  be  the  densest.f  It  is  likely,  however, 
that  since  then  other  sections  have  increased  at  a  more 
rapid  rate  so  that  the  most  densely  populated  section  of 
New  York  City  lies  elsewhere.  The  writer  is  inclined  to 
believe  that  this  distinction  lies  between  the  large  Jew- 
ish colony  located  on  such  streets  as  Rivington,  For- 
sythe  and  Eldridge  and  the  Italian  colony  at  Mulberry 
Bend,  Bayard,  Baxter,  Elizabeth  and  Hester  Streets, 
both  of  which  sections  have  very  many  characteristics 
that  are  similar. 

Dr.  Bushee  found  the  density  of  population  in  the 
Italian  quarter  at  the  North  End  of  Boston  to  average 
1.40  persons  per  sleeping  room.**  This  was  true  in  1891 
but  it  has  since  increased  65%.  The  same  condition  exists 
among  the  Italian  quarters  in  New  York  City.  The  only 
data  we  have  regarding  density  in  such  quarters  is  fairly 
recent.  In  1912  Dr.  Antonio  Stella  made  a  study  of 
housing  conditions  in  the  Italian  quarters  in  the  lower 
part  of  this  city.  His  findings  are  both  interesting  and 
instructive.  "The  old  seventh  ward  which  contains  a 
great  part  of  the  Italian  population,"  he  says,  "has  a 
density  of  478  people  per  acre.  This  is  greater  than  the 
density  of  the  districts  of  Bethnal  Green  and  Skelder- 
gate  in  London  where  the  greatest  density  was  found  to 
be  365  and  349  people  to  the  square  acre  respectively, 
and  this  Rowntree  considered  greater  than  that  of  any 
other  city  of  Europe."***     Five  separate  investigations 

*  Lectures  by  Prof.  Franklin  H.  Giddine:s ;  in  Inductive  So- 
ciology given  at  Columbia  University  in  1915.  (It  is  to  be  added 
tho  in  this  connection  that  accurate  data  regarding  condi- 
tions in  China  and  in  India  are  not  to  be  had).  , 

t  Federation,  December,  1904. 

**  Bushee,  Prof.  F.  A.  "Ethnic  Factors  in  the  Population  of 
Boston"  American  Economic  Ass'n.  Third  Series,  1903. 

***  Stella,  Dr.  Antonio;  La  Lotta  comtra  La  Tubercolosi  fra 
gli  Italiani  nclla  Citta  di  New  York.  p.  47  passim. 


TO  AMERICAN  DEMOCRACY  17 

made  at  various  points  in  this  city  are  quoted  here  to 
point  out  the  general  character  of  over-population  and 
unusual  density  among  Italian  speaking  people.  In  cer- 
tain places  on  East  13th  Street,  a  Sicilian  district,  Dr. 
Stella  found  that  1231  people  lived  in  120  rooms,  an  av- 
erage of  ten  people  to  a  room,  v^ith  less  than  18  cubic 
meters  of  air  for  each  individuaLf 

In  another  section  on  Seventh  Avenue,  a  Calabrian 
section,  he  found  twenty  rooms  populated  by  eight  fam- 
ilies totalling  42  people  of  whom  24  were  children.  Dr. 
Guilfoy  found  seven  tenement  houses  populated  by  1500 
people.*  Block  X  of  the  old  14th  Ward,  Lord  found  to 
have  the  most  unenviable  distinction  of  being  the  most 
densely  populated  of  Italian  blocks  he  investigated  and  to 
contain  the  largest  number  of  Italian  families  of  Italian 
origin  in  the  city.  In  this  block  492  families  were  lodged 
in  an  area  extending  north  from  Prince  Street  between 
Mott  and  Elizabeth  Streets.  In  one  of  these  blocks 
alone,  the  so-called  "Lung"  block,  were  counted  more 
than  4000  people,  one  quarter  of  whom  were  Americans 
of  Italian  extraction.**  Lastly  Chapin's  study  of  con- 
ditions in  New  York  City  showed  the  Italians  (disre- 
garding the  Bohemians  whose  numbers  are  insignifi- 
cant) rivalled  only  by  the  Austrians  in  over-crowding, 
viz:  J 

OVER-CROWDING  BY  NATIONALITIES 
Total  No.       No.  reporting  more 

Nationality  of  Families 

United   States  67 

Teutonic  39 

Irish  24 

Colored         '  28 

Bohemian  14 

Russian  57 

Austrian  32 

Italian  57 

TOTAL  318 

These  findings  if  true  point  to  the  fact  that  perhaps 
in  the  Italian  colony  at  Mulberry  Bend  Park  there  are 

t  ibid.  p.  48. 
*  Medical  Record,  Jan.  5th,  1908. 
.  ,**Lord,  Trenor  and  Barrows.  The  Italian  in  America. 

t  Chapin,  Robert   C.     The   Standard  of   living  in   New  York 
City,  p.  81. 


than  1^  persons 

Percent 

per  room 

20 

30 

8 

21 

12 

50 

16 

57 

11 

79 

35 

61 

21 

65 

37 

65 

160 

50 

18  THE  ITALIAN  CONTRIBUTION 

more  individuals  living  per  square  acre  than  upon  any 
other  square  acre  that  we  know  of  in  the  world.  Prof. 
Foerster's  vivid  description  is  both  interesting  and  in- 
structive in  this  connection.^  New  York  City's  total 
acreage  is  201,659.  With  a  population  of  five  and  one 
half  million  this  would  average  a  population  of  22.31 
per  square  mile.  Distributed  by  boroughs  the  figures 
of  the  city's  population  fo*-  all  nationalities  are  :* 
DENSITY   OF   POPULATION   PER  ACRE    IN   NEW   YORK 

CITY 
Year  N.  Y.  City  Manhattan  Bronx  Brooklyn  Queens  Richmond 
1910  23.66  166.08         16.56       32.89  3.78  2.34 

While  we  see  in  the  above  the  density  per  acre  for 
the  city  at  large  is  but  23.66,  in  the  old  Second  Assembly 
district  which  is  predominantly  Italian  it  jumps  to  170.4 
and  in  the  old  Sixth  District  to  the  astounding  figures 
of  397.6,**  pointing  to  a  physical  background  for  the 
type  that  we  are  studying  that  is  highly  abnormal. 

t  "Who  that  has  sauntered  thru  these  colonies  can  forget 
them?  Who,  since  they  are  unique,  can  describe  them?  An 
ant  hill  is  like  them  or  a  bee-hive — but  too  soon  all  analogies 
break  down !  Where  East  Houston,  Mott,  Prince  and  Eliza- 
beth Streets  come  together  in  New  York,  making  one  block 
fairly  long  but  very  narrow,  dwell  3500  people,  1100  to  the 
acre.  It  disputes  with  few  other  blocks  the  dismal  honor  of 
being  the  most  populous  spot  on  earth.  Its  tenements  rise 
four  or  five  stories  into  the  air  but  each  story  bursts,  as  if 
the  inward  pressure  were  too  great,  into  a  balcony.  The 
street  below  is  at  once  playground  and  place  of  business;  one 
threads  one's  way  betwixt  pushcarts  and  stands,  past  little 
children  and  quite  as  little  old  women,  whose  black  eyes  scin- 
tillate above  their  bronzed  Sicilian  cheeks.  Here  doctor  and 
mid-wife  might  make  a  living  while  scarcely  leaving  the  block. 
(One  child  in  nine  dies  before  the  age  of  five.)  On  each  floor, 
as  a  rule,  are  four  'flats,'  often  of  two  rooms ;  one  room  serv- 
ing as  kitchen,  dining-room,  and  general  living  room,  the  other 
as  bed-room.  'There  is  not,'  says  a  government  report,  'a 
bath-tub  in  this  solid  block,  unless  there  be  some  in  the  Chil- 
dren's Aid  Society  building,  and  only  one  family  has  a  hot 
water  range.  In  one  of  the  buildings  there  are  radiators  in 
the  hall,  but  the  furnace  has  never  been  lighted  in  the  recol- 
lection of  the  present  tenants.  All  halls  are  cold  and  dirty  the 
greater  part  of  the  time,  and  most  of  them  are  dark.'  Neither 
bath-tub  nor  stove  is  an  institution  which  these  immigrants 
have  known  in  Italy,  but  in  America  both  cHmate  and  the 
perils  of  crowded  living  make  their  omission  costly."  (Taken 
from  The  Italian  Emigration  of  Our  Times,  p.  382-3). 

♦Pratt,  Edward  E,  Industrial  Causes  gi  Congestion  jn  New 
York  City,  p.  28. 

**  ibid  p.  31. 


TO  AMERICAN  DEMOCRACY  19 

DISTRIBUTION  OF  ITALIAN  COLONIES— Because 
as  one  writer  puts  it  "no  other  nationality  in  New  York 
City  is  so  given  to  aggregation  as  the  ItaHan"  there 
is  scarcely  another  nationality  that  so  thoroughly 
stamps  as  foreign  the  district  it  occupies.  Never- 
theless in  with  the  Italians  are  Hebrews,  Syrians, 
Greeks  and  other  nationalities  of  Southeastern  Europe. 
Again  there  are  thousands  of  Italian  speaking  people 
domiciled  in  sections  where  other  racial  stocks  predom- 
inate so  that  these  are  not  included  in  the  estimated  fig- 
ures by  districts  that  follow.  It  is  understood  that  the 
figures  given  for  the  population  of  the  different  colonies 
or  sections  are  approximate.  A  distribution  of  the  Ital- 
ian speaking  population  in  New  York  City  by  Boroughs 
follows : 
DISTRIBUTION  OF  ITALIAN  COLONIES  IN  MANHATTAN 

Section  Chief  Estimated 

or  Street  Boundaries  Dialects       Population 

Locality  •       Spoken         (Approx.) 

Genoese 
Mulberry      Worth,    Lafayette,    Bow- Calabrian  nnnnn 

Bend  Park   ery  and  Houston  Sts.         Neapolitan  ii",wu 

Sicilian 

Calabrian 
West  Side     Canal,     West     4th,    West  Piedmontese 
(lower)      Broadway,  North  River      Tuscan 

Neapolitan 

East  Side     East  9th   St.,  East   River,  Sicilian  iq  nnn 

(middle)    2nd  Ave.,  and  33rd  St.        Calabrian  ^^'^^ 

Neapolitan 
West  Side     34th    St.,   59th    St.,   North  Genoese  it;nnn 

(middle)     River   and   Ninth  Ave.        Turinese  ^'""" 

Milanese 

Neapolitan 
E.  Harlem    134th    St.,    125th    St.,   2nd.  Calabrian  75  qqq 

(Little  Italy)  Ave.  to  East  River  Sicilian  ' 

Salernitano 

White 
Plains  Ave. 

Van    Cort- 
landt 

Gun  Hill 
Road 

Scattering 

TOTAL 


70,000 


Neapolitan 

3,500 

Sicilian 

2,000 

Calabrian 

1,500 

Miscellaneous 

15,000 

310,000 

20 


THE  ITALIAN  CONTRIBUTION 


DISTRIBUTION  OF  ITALIAN  COLONIES  IN  BRONX 


Section 

or 
Locality 


Street  Boundaries 


Chief 
Dialects 
Spoken 


Estimated 

Population 

(Approx.) 


Fordham 


Morrisania 

Williams- 
bridge 

Van  Nest 

Bedford  Pk. 

Scattering 
TOTAL 


Fordham   Rd,,   So.    Boule- 
vard, 180  St.  and  3rd  Ave 


3rd   Ave.,   149th 
St.,  Park  Ave. 


Bedford      Pky 
Pky.,    Jerome     Ave 
The   Concourse 


Abbruzzese 
Barese 
Sicilian 
Barese 

St.,    161st  Sicilian 

Abbruzzese 

Neapolitan 

Neapolitan 

Sicilian 

Neapolitan 

Calabrian 

Moshulu  Calabrian 
and  Neapolitan 
Sicilian 
Miscellaneous 


35,000 

20,000 

20,000 
15,000 

15,000 

10,000 
115,000 


DISTRIBUTION    OF    ITALIAN    COLONIES    IN    RICHMOND 


Section 

or 
Locality 


Street  Boundaries 


Chief 
Dialects 
Spoken 


Estimated 
Population 
(Approx.) 


Rosebank 

Tompkins- 
ville 

New  Brigh- 
ton 

Arrochar 

Port    Rich- 
mond 

West  New 
Brighton 

Dongan 
Hills 

Tottenville 
Stapleton 
Arlington 
Mariner's 

Harbor 
Elm    Park, 

etc. 

TOTAL 


St.     Mary's    Ave.,    Tomp- 
kins Ave.,  Chestnut  Ave. 

Van   Duzer  St.,  St.   Paul's 
Ave.,  Hannah  St. 

Jersey   St.,   Brighton  Ave. 

Richmond  Ave. 
Old  Town  Road 

Elm  Street 

Richmond     St.,     Brighton 
Ave. 

Puritan  Ave.,  Liberty  Ave. 


Sicilian 

Calabrian 

Neapolitan 

6,500 

Neapolitan 

3,500 

Calabrian 

3,000 

Sicilian 

2,000 

Neapolitan 

1,000 

Sicilian 

1,000 

Neapolitan 

500 

Miscellaneous      2,500 


20,000 


TO  AMERICAN  DEMOCRACY  21 

DISTRIBUTION   OF   ITALIAN   COLONIES    IN    BROOKLYN 


Section 

or 
Locality 


Street  Boundaries 


Chief         Estimated 
Dialects       Population 
Spoken        (Approx.) 


Bridge 

Section 

City  Park 


Hamilton 
Ave. 

Fourth  Ave. 

Lefferts  Pk. 

Bath  Beach 
&  Coney  Is. 

Franklin 
Ave. 

Williams- 
burg Ave. 

Bushwick 

Flatbush 
Troy  Ave. 
East  N.  Y. 

Elton   St. 

Scattering 
TOTAL 


Front,  High,  Gold,  and 
Prospect    Sts. 

Hudson  Ave.,  Navy  Yard, 
N.  Portland  &  Myrtle  Avs 

Hamilton  Ave.,  Court  St., 
Atlantic  Ave.,  Columbia 
St. 

Fifth  Ave.,  Degraw  St., 
Nevins   St.,  and  22nd  St. 

New  Utrecht  Ave.,  60th 
St.,  11th  Ave.,  70th  St. 

Bay  11th,  Bath  Avenue  to 
Coney  Island 

DeKalb  Ave.,  Marcy  Ave., 
Flushing  Ave.,  Grand  Ave. 

Union  Ave.,  N.  6th  St., 
Bedford,  Graham,  John- 
son Aves. 

Evergreen  Ave.,  Willough- 

by     Ave.,     Knickerbocker  Sicilian 

Ave.,  Flushing  Ave. 


Calabrian  10,000 

Neapolitan  ^c^qqq 

Gragitano  ' 

Sicilian  20,000 

Neapolitan  30,000 

Calabrian  10,000 

Sicilian  15,000 

Calabrian  15,000 

Neapolitan  40,000 
30.000 


Malbone  St.,  Nostrand 
Ave.,  Kings  County  Bldgs 
and  Flushing  Ave. 

Troy  Ave.,  St.  Marks  Ave. 
Utica  Ave.,  Fulton  St. 

Rockaway  Ave.,  Liberty 
Ave.,  Pennsylvania  Ave., 
and  Fulton  St. 

Atlantic  Ave.,  Ashford  St., 
Glenmore  Ave.,  Essex  St. 


Neapolitan  5,000 

Neapolitan  5,000 

Neapolitan 

Salernitano  20,000 
Barese 

Neapolitan  5,000 

Miscellaneous  15,000 
235,000 


22 


THE  ITALIAN  CONTRIBUTION 


DISTRIBUTION   OF   ITALIAN   COLONIES    IN   QUEENS 


Section 

or 
Locality 


Street  Boundaries 


Chief  Estimated 

Dialects      Population 
Spoken        (Approx.) 


Long  Island 

City 
(No.    Sec.) 


Willow     St.,     Washington 
PI.,  Hallet  St.,  Hoyt  Ave. 


Ninth  Ave.,  Astoria  Ave., 
Steinway  Ave. 
Ridgwood,  Hamilton  St., 
Peeree  St.,  Washington 
(West. Sec.)  Ave.,  Webster  &  Graham 
Ave.,  Ridge  St.,  Camilier 
St. 

Fifth  to  10th  Avenues 
Fifth     Ave.,     Moore     St., 
Sycamore    Ave.,    Alburtis 
Ave. 

Corona  Ave. 
Scattered 


(East.  Sec.) 


(So.  Sec.) 

Corona  - 
(West.Sec.) 


(No.  Sec.) 
(East.  Sec.) 
Jamaica 
(West.Sec.) 

Flushing 
(East.  Sec.) 

Scattered 
TOTAL 


Abruzzese 
Salernitano 


Sicilian 

Neapolitan 

Piedmontese 

Neapolitan 

Salernitano 
Neapolitan 

Basilicatanese 
Miscellaneous 


6,000 
4,000 

6,000 

2,000 

6,000 

2,000 
2,500 


South  St.,  Rockaway  Ave.  Basilicatanese     6,500 

Amity   St.,  W.   Grove   St.  H^HH,,, 

Calabrian 


and  Vicinity 


Miscellaneous 


5,000 

15,000 
55,000 


AGE  CLASSIFICATION— According  to  the  1910  cen- 
sus the  actual  age  distribution  of  Italians  that  entered 
was : 
AGE  GROUPS  OF  ITALIAN  IMMIGRANTS  BY  PERCENTS, 

1910 
Year    Race  or  People    Under  14  Yrs.    14-44  Yrs.   45    Yrs.  and  over 
1910  Italian  10.4  83.5  6.1 

W^hen  we  come  to  consider  Americans  of  Italian  ex- 
traction it  is  perfectly  safe  to  say  that  because  of  the 
very  recent  character  of  Italian  immigration  this  type 
will  plot  its  heaviest  below  the  21  year  age  line.  When 
we  consider  that  immigration  from  Italy  that  first 
amounted  to  anything  started  in  1882  with  but  32,160 
entering  and  that  it  was  not  until  1900  that  it  had  crossed 
the  100,000  mark,  we  see  that  the  descendents  of  these 


TO  AMERICAN  DEMOCRACY  23 

people  must  be  in  a  comparatively  youthful  stage.  A 
glance  at  the  age-figures  of  those  entering  in  a  repre- 
sentative year  will  show  how  truly  homogeneous  is  this 
group  of  Italian  origin  from  the  standpoint  of  age-char- 
acter— the  great  bulk  of  their  parents  being  still  in  the 
prime  of  life  when  they  arrived  at  this  port.  In  actual 
numbers  those  entering  in  1914,  the  year  of  the  greatest 
immigration  notwithstanding  the  abrupt  stoppage  due 
to  the  war,  were : 

ITALIAN  IMMIGRATION  INTO  THE  UNITED  STATES,  1914 
Number 

Race  Admitted  Under  14  yrs.  14-44  yrs.  45  yrs.  &  over 

Italian,  North         44,802  4,775  38,106  1,921 

Italian,  South        251,612  32,936  201,428  17,248 

Total  296,414  47,711  239,534  19,179 

There  are  no  age  statistics  for  the  second  generation. 
The  census  bureau  lumps  the  native-born  of  all  foreign 
stocks  together  and  makes  one  class  of  them.  Before 
1900  however  the  number  (74,168)  was  so  s'mall  as  to  be 
inconsequential.  It  has  steadily  increased  since  so  that 
in  1910  it  more  than  doubled  itself,  rising  to  191,545  in 
actual  numbers.  But  it  has  remained  for  the  last  decade 
from  1910  on  to  witness  the  most  phenomenal  increase 
of  this  class  in  New  York  City.*  From  1910-1917  there 
was  an  increase  of  177,649  or  a  scant  15,000  to  keep  the 
original  1900  figure  from  again  having  doubled  itself 
within  seven  years  this  time  instead  of  ten.  Computed  in 
round  numbers  there  are  today  in  New  York  City  175,000 
Americans  of  Italian  extraction  (or  47%)  of  the  second 
generation  between  one  and  nine  years  of  age;  125,000 
or  34%  between  ten  and  nineteen  years  of  age ;  35,000 
or  9%  in  each  of  the  two  succeeding  age  groups  namely, 

♦The  actual  increase  by  births  for  each  year  is  as  follows: 

1901 11,130  1909 24,882 

1902 12,746  1910 28,369 

1903 14,625  1911 28,290 

1904 16,301  1912 29,600 

1905 18,252  1913 29,533 

1906 21,216  1914 .31,023 

1907. 23,805  1915 29,717 

1908 25,754  1916 29,011 

1917 28,989 

(Above  figures  from  original  data  furnished  by  Dr.   Guilfoy) 


24  THE  ITALIAN  CONTRIBUTION 

20-29  and  30-39  years,  and  finally  5,000  or  1%  forty  years 
and  over. 

As  these  figures  show,  the  type  we  are  studying  is 
essentially  in  a  state  of  transition,  the  majority  of  them 
or  fully  90%  being  contained  in  the  first  two  age  group- 
ings all  below  twenty-one  years  of  age.  Because  of  this 
fact  the  socio-economic  conditions  that  we  shall  disclose 
in  subsequent  chapters  like  the  "Standard  of  Living" 
and  "Occupations"  will  be  a  standard  of  living  dictated 
by  the  old  generation  and  the  facts  themselves  be  largely 
socio-economic  facts  pertaining  primarily  to  the  first 
rather  than  to  the  second  generation.  For  the  reader  to 
remember  this  is  important  because  it  affects  practically 
the  entire  body  constituting  the  second  generation  the 
members  of  which  represent  a  state  of  transition,  not 
having  definitely  and  fully  adjusted  themselves  to  Amer- 
ican life  from  the  standpoint  of  their  own  free  choices 
because  of  their  immaturity  in  years.  In  the  chapter  on 
LITERACY  we  notice  the  position  of  this  class  "en 
masse"  in  our  public  schools.  The  figures  there  shown 
corroborate  the  above  reflection  for  by  far  the  greatest 
number,  namely  72  percent  of  the  American  of  Italian 
extraction  is  found  in  the  primary  grades. 

According  to  the  last  available  estimates  of  this  city's 
population  the  figures  put  forth  by  the  Board  of  Health 
show  a  population  of  5,748,629  people.  The  population 
of  New  York  City  of  school-going  age  i.  e.  5-18  is  1,352,- 
460  or  23.6  per  cent  of  the  total  population.  Italians  and 
Americans  of  Italian  extraction  numbering  730,842  rep- 
resent 12.7  percent  of  the  total  population  while  the 
second  generation  constitutes  30.1  percent  of  the  city's 
school  going  population. 

SEX  CLASSIFICATION— Just  as  in  the  age  distribu- 
tion so  in  the  matter  of  sex  no  one  study  is  available 
showing  the  distribution  of  this  700,000  odd  population. 
According  to  the  census  taken  in  1901*  Italy  with  a  pop- 

*  The  latest  census  was  taken  in  June,  1911  and  showed  for 
the  entire  population  over  10  years  of  age  the  following:  males 
12,889,847;  females  13,680,201  or  substantially  no  difference  from 
the  figures  quoted  above.  (Taken  from  ITALY  TO-DAY,  Bul- 
letin of  Italian  Bureau  of  Public  Information,  1918.) 


TO  AMERICAN  DEMOCRACY  25 

ulation  of  32,475,353  showed  the  following  proportions 
between  the  sexes; 

Date  of  POPULATION      Proportion  of 

Country  Census  Male  Female  Males  to 

100  Females 
Italy  1901  16,155,130  16,320,123  99.0 

The  sex  of  our  Italian  immigrants  was  not  anywhere 
thus  evenly  distributed  because  at  the  beginning 
approximately  six  males  to  one  female  entered  this  coun- 
try. This  disparity  has  been  steadily  decreasing,  how- 
ever, until  now  the  proportion  of  men  entering  is  three 
to  one  female. 

In  the  United  States  the  percentage  of  males  to  fe- 
males is  106  in  favor  of  the  latter.  For  New  York  City 
according  to  the  last  census  1910,  the  proportion  between 
the  sexes  is  as  follows : 

Borough 
Manhattan 
Bronx 
Brooklyn 
Queens 
Richmond 

Dr.  Laidlaw  found  thruout  Manhattan  as  a  whole 
which  he  considered  representative,  that  native  born  fe- 
males of  all  racial  strains  exceed  the  native-born  males 
by  12,277  while  the  foreign-born  females  exceed  the  for- 
eign-born males  only  by  1298.  In  the  Bronx  males  ex- 
ceed the  females  among  the  foreign-born  population 
while  the  females  exceed  the  males  among  the  native- 
born.  Dr.  Laidlaw  stated,  however,  that  the  above  dis- 
crepancy was  in  large  part  due  to  the  fact  that  a  great 
many  Italians  were  at  that  time  engaged  on  the  public 
works  of  this  Borough.*  It  would  seem  from  all  this 
that  of  the  adult  generations  the  males  predominate ;  but 
with  the  American  of  Italian  extraction,  no  great  dis- 
parity in  sex  exists  that  is  of  any  moment,  the  distribu- 
tion between  male  and  female  being  practically  even. 
For  the  entire  population  of  foreign  parentage,  as  a  mat- 
ter of  fact,  this  same  ratio  of  evenness  between  the  sexes 
exists  and  has  remained  stationary  since  1890  with  a 
*  Federation,  April  1912,  p.  25. 


Males 

Females 

1,168,657 

217,126 

809,891 

144,205 

44,757 

1,164,883 

213,860 

824,560 

139,836 

41,262 

26  THE  ITALIAN  CONTRIBUTION 

tendency  in  most  cities  towards  a  decline  in  the  number 
of  males.* 

CONJUGAL  RELATIONSHIP— Marital  statistics  foV 
Italians  and  Americans  of  Italian  extraction  show- 
marked  differences  as  is  to  be  expected.  For  all  nation- 
alities daughters  of  the  foreign-born  show  only  19% 
of  those  aged  between  15-24  to  be  married,  while  among 
daughters  of  native-born  parents  30%  are  married;  for 
the  men  between  20-29  only  26%  of  the  native-born  sons 
of  foreign  stock  are  married;  while  of  the  sons  of  na- 
tives 38.5^"  are  married.**  As  Prof.  Commons  points 
out  this  phenomenon  sustains  what  can  be  proved  in 
many  large  cities,  and  New  York  City  is  no  exception. 
The  following  table  shows  the  conjugal  condition  of  en- 
tering immigrants : 

CONJUGAL   CONDITION   OF   IMMIGRANTS,   1910 
PERCENTAGE 
Sex  14  to  44  years  45  years  and  over 

Single  Married  Wid.  Div.  Single  Married  Wid.    Div. 
Males  55.3       44.2        0.5        a        5.2        86.8         7.9  a 

Females  57.7        39.9        2.3        a        6.6        52.8       40.5        0.1 

a.    Less  than  one-tenth  of  one  percent. 

Fairchild  points  out  the  deep  significance  that  these 
figures  have  for  us  in  our  problem  of  synthetization. 
More  than  half  of  all  immigrants  of  both  sexes  are  sin- 
gle, showing  therefore  that  the  immigration  movement 
is  not  a  movement  of  families.  One  of  the  greatest 
forces  for  Americanization  in  immigrant  families  is  the 
growing  children,  in  this  case  numbering  300,000  or  81 
per  cent.  "Where  they  are  lacking  the  adults  have  much 
less  contact  with  assimilation  influences."*"^*  Together 
with  the  American  of  Jewish  extraction,  the  type  under 
surveillance  here  is  able  to  bring  all  the  possible  ad- 
vantages that  numbers  carry  upon  the  process  of  syn- 
thetization and  Americanization.  Our  type  here  as  we 
have  seen  is  most  numerous  within  the  three  to  nine  age 

*  See  also  hand-book  of  Federal  Statistics  of  Children,  Chil- 
dren's Bureau,  Publication  No.  5,  Second  Edition,  passim,  where 
for  the  entire  country  for  both  the  foreign  and  native  stocks 
"the  number  of  boys  and  girls  is  always  nearly  equal."  p.  10. 

**  Commons,  J.  R.,  Races  and  Immigrants  in  America,  p.  203. 

♦**  Fairchild.  H.  P.     Immigration,  p.  202. 


TO  AMERICAN  DEMOCRACY  27 

group  and  is  consequently  for  the  most  part  unmarried. 

MIXED  MARRIAGES— In  the  matter  of  children  the 
^estion  whether  the  two  parents  are  of  one  strain  is  an 
important  one.  Dr.  Jones  found  that  the  antipathy  ex- 
isting between  the  Irish  and  the  Italian  vanished  when 
the  latter  learned  the  American  point  of  view,  and  he 
hereafter  expects  to  see  a  family  life  where  marriages 
between  the  Italians  and  the  Irish  will  be  as  numerous 
as  have  been  marriages  between  the  Germans  and  the 
Irish.  In  the  latter  case  there  is  perhaps  more  in  com- 
mon. Both  the  Italian  and  the  Irish  colonies  are  strong- 
holds of  Catholicism  and  this  coupled  with  their  con- 
vivial affinities  would  help  draw  the  emotional  and  highly 
strung  natures  of  both  these  stocks  together  more  fre- 
quently. As  a  matter  of  fact  this  mixing  of  the  Irish 
with  the  Italian  is  a  process  that  is  going  on  rapidly, 
particularly  in  the  Italian  families  on  the  middle  West 
Side  of  New  York  City.  We  call  to  mind  in  this  con- 
nection the  situation  as  it  exists  for  the  City  of  Boston 
where  a  special  inquiry  showed  that  236  Italian  families 
in  a  colony  of  7900  were  of  mixed  parentage  with  pre- 
dominantly Irish  tendencies. 

Some  idea  of  the  rapid  absorption  of  Italian  blood  thru 
mixed  marriages  is  afforded  by  the  study  of  Ripley  made 
some  years  ago.  In  all  there  were  484,207  Italians  in 
the  United  States  in  1900.  Marriages  of  Italian  mothers 
and  American  born  fathers  produced  2747  offspring; 
23,076  had  Italian  fathers  and  native-born  mothers ; 
12,523  had  Italian  fathers  and  mothers  of  some  other 
non-American  nationality,  while  3,911  had  Italian  moth- 
ers and  fathers  neither  American  nor  Italian  born.  Thus 
of  the  484,000  Italians,  nearly  1/10  were  of  mixed  blood. 
This  is  as  high  a  ratio  of  blood  mixture  as  is  found 
among  any  other  group  of  immigrants  representing  the 
"newer  immigration."* 

For  New  York  City  we  have  some  interesting  data 
available  for  the  first  time.  In  1900  there  were  only 
108  births  of  mixed  parentage  in  this  city;  by  1916  this 
had  increased  to  530  or  a  gain  of  390.7  per  cent :  the  fol- 

*  Ripley,  Ezra  P.  "Journal  of  the  Royal  Anthropological  In- 
stitute" Vol.  38,  p.  233. 


28  THE  ITALIAN  CONTRIBUTION      . 

lowing  year  1917  saw  a  gain  of  257  or  48.4  per  cent  over 
the  preceding  year*  and  if  the  figures  of  1918  were 
available  this  percentage  would  be  even  higher.  Dr. 
Guilfoy  concludes  from  the  above  figures  that  "the  war 
apparently  has  resulted  in  more  Italian  women  marrying 
men  of  other  nationalities."  The  war  unquestionably 
was  a  factor  in  explaining  the  above  but  it  was  not  the 
most  important  by  any  means.  To  the  writer  the  main 
reason  for  the  increasing  prevalence  of  mixed  marriages 
is  the  increasing  number  of  Americans  of  Italian  extrac- 
tion, men  and  women  alike,  that  are  coming  into  what 
Jones  has  termed  "the  American  point  of  view"  and  be- 
cause of  this,  rather  than  because  of  the  war  we  can 
confidently  expect  to  see  an  increasing  frequency  of 
mixed  marriages  among  these  people. 

RELATION  BETWEEN  SIZE  OF  FAMILY  AND 
ITS  PLACE  IN  THE  SOCIO-ECONOMIC  SCALE— It 
is  obvious  that  for  the  earliest  periods  of  family  life 
there  is  a  direct  relation  between  the  size  of  the  family 
and  its  place  in  our  socio-economic  life.  The  more 
mouths  there  are  to  feed  the  more  severe  is  the  struggle 
for  existence.  This  is  but  temporary,  however,  and  after 
the  children  have  grown  up  the  burdens  of  the  parents 
are  considerably  lessened. 

It  is  the  trying  early  period  and  the  large  percentage 
of  the  second  generation  among  Italian  speaking  peo- 
ples of  New  York  City  that  brought  the  Italians  third 
in  the  bad  preeminence  of  congested  families.  The 
test  made  was  that  of  finding  the  greatest  frequency  for 
the  highest  number  of  persons  per  sleeping  room.  Twen- 
ty-two percent  of  all  the  Italians  from  the  southern  part 
of  Italy  occupied  all  of  their  rooms  as  sleeping  rooms ; 
outranked  by  but  the  Greeks  and  the  Syrians  who 
showed  for  this  same  phenomenon  the  percentages  of 
42.9  and  42.1  respectively.** 

The  Immigration  Commission  found  that  approxi- 
mately 26  percent  of  the  households  they  visited  kept 
boarders  or  lodgers.     In  New  York  City  this  proportion 

*  Courtesy  of  Dr.  Wm.  H.  Guilfoy,  Registrar  of  Records,  New 
York  City  Health  Dept. 
**Jenks  and  Lauck;  The  Immigration  Problem,  p.  133  passim. 


TO  AMERICAN  DEMOCRACY  29 

was  in  round  numbers  25  percent.  Among  Italians  42.9% 
were  found  to  have  used  this  means  as  an  aid  in  solv- 
ing the  problem  of  living.  In  this  they  were  outranked 
by  the  Lithuanians  with  70.3  and  Hungarians  with  47^°."^ 
In  contrast  we  find  that  only  9.5%  of  the  Germans  had 
boarders;  5.3%  of  the  Syrians;  16.7%  of  the  Irish;  13.1% 
of  the  Bohemians — all  of  which  groups  excepting  the 
Germans  constitute  what  is  called  the  "old  immigration." 
The  writer's  knowledge  of  the  Italian  home  and  the 
Italian  temperament  makes  him  believe  that  the  social 
and  convivial  nature  of  the  Latin,  apart  from  the  econ- 
omy involved,  helps  markedly  to  give  the  Italian  his 
high  percentage. 

The  American  of  Italian  extraction  comes  from  a  race 
where  family  ties  are  strong.  This  is  evidenced  by  the 
fact  that  13.7%  of  the  contributors  concerning  them- 
selves with  the  question  "What  does  the  American  of 
Italian  extraction  lose  by  his  contact  with  American  de- 
mocracy?" say  that  one  of  the  chief  losses  that  this 
type  of  American  sustains  thru  his  contacts  with  his 
new  home  in  our  American  democracy  is  the  loss  of  the 
warm  and  intimate  family  relationships  that  obtained 
among  the  older  generation.**  The  nature  of  this  strong 
family  relationship  is  important  to  understand  because 
usually  the  degree  or  intensity  of  saturation  with  Amer- 
ican culture  gained  by  individuals  of  this  type  varies 
inversely  with  the  degree  or  intensity  of  grip  that  the 
family  life  of  the  older  generation  holds  upon  such  an 
individual.  There  is  a  constant  struggle  or  competition 
going  on  between  the  forces  of  the  outside  world,  rep- 
resenting on  the  one  hand,  AMERICANISM,  and  on  the 
other  hand  the  influences  of  the  home  or  of  family  life 
playing  for  the  predominance  of  Italian  habits,  customs, 
ways  of  thinking  and  of  ideas. 

Jane  Addams  in  her  book  "Twenty  Years  at  Hull 
House"  tells  of  a  play  written  by  an  Italian  playwright 
which  depicted  the  too  often  insolent  break  between 
Americanized   sons   and  old  country  parents   so  touch- 

*  ibid. 

**  Symposium,  infra  Chapter  25. 


30  THE  ITALIAN  CONTRIBUTION 

ingly  that  it  moved  to  tears  all  the  older  Italians  in  the 
audience.  It  is  this  tenacity  of  holding  on  at  all  costs 
and  for  all  time  by  the  adult  Italian  to  some  of  their 
old  world  standards  that  often  makes  the  Irishman  hate 
him  very  bitterly  for  he  is  willing  to  work  regardless 
of  workingmen's  standards  in  this  country.  In  many 
cases  this  "hiatus"  between  both  generations  is  enough 
to  account  for  the  entire  difference  between  a  delinquent 
and  a  normal  member  of  society.  The  best  instance  of 
this  is  seen  in  the  cases  of  girls  belonging  to  Italian 
homes.  Held  down  close  to  the  home  of  the  older  gen- 
eration, essentially  foreign,  and  dominated  by  the  tradi- 
tions of  an  environment  and  way  of  life  totally  differ- 
ent— the  newer  impulse  of  our  freer  life  when  it  comes 
is  sufficient  to  account  for  the  many  over-balancings.  As 
Woods  says  "the  Italian  girl  unless  she  has  stepped  be- 
yond the  confines  of  morality  is  rarely  seen  in  any  public 
place  of  amusement  save  in  the  company  of  an  older 
person."  It  is  this  carrying  over  of  foreign  traditions 
and  over-assiduity  by  the  parents  that  makes  for  mis- 
chief and  which  accounts  for  the  reason  why  so  many 
girls  of  Italian  origin  are  to  be  found  in  the  custody 
of  probation  officers  and  the  like.  Yet  as  Woods  again 
points  out  "no  daughter  is  more  carefully  looked  after 
than  the  child  of  Italian  parents."  The  point  we  wish 
to  make  here  is  that  the  "family  life"  such  as  the  Amer- 
ican of  Italian  extraction  often  encounters  operates  as 
a  fetter  or  hindrance  to  a  full-blown  Americanism.  In 
some  cases  and  particularly  in  the  poorest  sections  the 
"family  life"  is  of  a  kind  almost  worse  than  none  at  all. 
Summarizing  the  above  we  see  that  the  type  of  indi- 
vidual we  are  studying  is  unique  in  that  it  represents  a 
new  generation  fitted  into  the  standards  of  an  older  one. 
The  restrictive  influences  of  a  perverting  social  environ- 
ment upon  the  full  play  of  the  forces  that  make  for 
Americanism  are  easily  seen.  Most  apparent  of  all  is 
the  paradox-  attempted  by  the  American  of  Italian  ex- 
traction in  seeking  to  retain  the  best  and  most  represen- 
tative of  the  old  world  culture  of  an  older  generation 
while  striving  to  secure  a  full  measure  of  the  new. 


TO  AMERICAN  DEMOCRACY  31 

CHAPTER  IV 
OCCUPATIONS 

RELATION  OF  ITALIAN  TO  OTHER  STOCKS  IN 
AMERICAN  INDUSTRIES— It  was  found  that  foreign- 
born  laborers  made  up  58%  of  the  total  number  of  the 
labor  force  in  American  industries.*  Of  this  the  Italians 
form  7%.**  Their  children,  or  Americans  of  Italian  ex- 
traction, in  a  representative  study  made  by  the  Immi- 
gration Commission  constituted  but  .3%  of  the  total  can- 
vassed. It  was  found  that  while  22.5%  of  foreign-born 
laborers  were  so  classified  only  9.9%  of  their  sons  fell 
in  the  same  category. f  Compared  with  native-born 
Americans  of  foreign  fathers  from  other  countries  the 
distribution  of  Americans  born  of  Italian  blood  in  Amer- 
ican industries  is  as  follows  :J 
INDUSTRIAL  DISTRIBUTION  OF  IMMIGRANT  WAGE- 
EARNERS 
General  Nativity  and  Race  Total  of  21  Industries 

Native-born  of  foreign  father : 

Germany    4.8 

Ireland   4.6 

England   2.1 

Canada   1.9 

Austria-Hungary  9 

Scotland    6 

Russia  5 

Wales    4 

Sweden    3 

Italy    3 

Netherlands   2 

France  2 

Switzerland    1 

DISTRIBUTION  OF  ITALIAN  BLOOD  IN  DIFFER- 
ENT INDUSTRIES— Mangano  says  that  three-quarters 

*  Lauck  and   Sydenstricker — "Condition  of  Labor  in   Amer- 
ican Industries"  p.  1. 
**  Ibid  p.  4. 

t  Immigration  Commission  Abstract  of  Report  on  Occupa- 
tions of  the  First  and  Second  Generations  of  Immigrants  in  the 
United  States,  pp.  13-27. 

$Jenks,  J.  W.— "The  Immigration  Problem"  p.  516. 


32  THE  ITALIAN  CONTRIBUTION 

of  the  people  of  Italian  blood  who  come  here  worked 
in  the  fields  at  home  and  that  but  16%  do  similar  work 
here.  The  remainder  are  employed  chiefly  in  the  coun- 
try's silk  mills,  machine  shops,  subways,  water-works, 
railroad-construction  gangs,  quarries  and  mines.*  Lauck 
found  that  the  largest  number  are  employed  in  railroad 
and  other  construction  work.'^*  Coming  from  Italy  the 
status  of  Italian  immigrants  for  the  last  two  decades 
was  as  follows  :t 
OCCUPATION  OF  EUROPEAN  IMMIGRANTS  REPORTING 

EMPLOYMENT  1899-1910 
People  No.  Reporting  PERCENT 

Employment 

Professional  Skilled    Laborers 

Occupa-    Occupa-  including  Misc. 
tions  tions        Farm 

Italian,   North  296,622  LI  20.4  66.5  12.0 

Italian,   South    ^      1,472,659  .4    _  14.6         ^    77.0     ^        7.9 

Prof.  Pecorini's  study  of  the  industrial  distribution  of 
Italians  in  the  United  States  shows  that  one-fifth  of 
those  from  the  North  of  Italy  and  one-sixth  from  the 
South  are  skilled.^ 

A  distribution  of  such  labor  for  1914,  the  heav- 
iest year  of  Italian  immigration  to  this  country  shows 
up  as  follows  :§ 

Group  NORTH  ITALIAN    SOUTH  ITALIAN 

Professional  508  608 

Skilled  labor  6,073  22,606 

Misc.  occupations  2,079  165,205 

No   occupation  10,142  63,193 

There  is  no  way  of  telling  what  the  wages  of  the  dif- 
ferent industrial  groups  according  to  racial  lines  ^  in 
either  New  York  City  or  elsewhere  may  be.  Other  im- 
migrants from  South-eastern  Europe  include  Poles, 
Slavs,  Hungarians,  Austrians,  etc.,  and  all  these  are  in- 

*  Mangano,  Antonio — "Sons  of  Italy"  p.  21. 
**  Lauck  and  Sydenstricker — "Conditions  of  Labor  in  Amer- 
ican Industry"  p.  4. 

t  Statistical   Review  of   Immigration,  p.  53. 
$  Pecorini,    Alberto— "The    Italian    as    an    Agricultural    La- 
borer," Annals  of  the  American  Academy  of  Political  and  So- 
cial Science,  Vol.  38—1909. 

§  Reports  of  Commissioner-General  of  Immigration,  p.  62 
seq. 


TO  AMERICAN  DEMOCRACY  33 

extricably  intertwined  with  Italians  in  the  city's  and  the 
nation's  working  population.  The  average  weekly  earn- 
ings of  industrial  workers  of  Italian  blood  according  to 
sex  and  generation,  are  shown  in  the  following  table, 
viz;* 

AVERAGE  AMOUNT  OF  WEEKLY  EARNINGS  OF  AMER- 
ICANS OF   ITALIAN   EXTRACTION  AND   ITALIANS 
18  YEARS  OR  OVER 

Average  for  all  Industries 
General  Nativity  and  Race  Male  Female 

Native-born  of  foreign  father: 

Italy  $10.61  $7.70 

Foreign-born : 
Italian,  North  11.28  7.31 

Italian,  South  9.61  6.64 

Italian,  not  specified  12.64  a 

a  Not  computed,  owing  to  small  number  involved. 

DISTRIBUTION  IN  NEW  YORK  CITY— The  ex- 
haustive inquiry  into  the  racial  composition  of  America's 
industrial  army  conducted  by  the  United  States  Immi- 
gration Commission  some  years  ago  found  that  Amer- 
icans of  foreign  fathers  constitute  17%  of  this  country's 
total  working  force.  Just  how  much  of  this  includes 
Americans  of  Italian  extraction  in  New  York  City  is  im- 
possible to  determine.  Different  proportions  hold  for 
the  adult  Italian  and  for  his  children.  Of  the  former 
82%  are  industrially  employed;  for  his  children  no  ade- 
quate figures  are  available.  Prof.  Ogburn  found  that 
in  New  York  City  7.5%  of  its  entire  children  were 
gainfully  employed  in  industry  in  1910.  If  this  rate  held 
true  for  children  of  Italian  blood,  and  unquestionably  it 
does,  then  fully  30,000  Americans  of  Italian  origin  are 
industrially  employed.** 

In  New  York  City  it  is  safe  to  say  that  the  Italian 
predominates  in  the  Street  Cleaning  Department,  sub- 
way construction  work,  barber  shops  and  building  trades. 
It  is  impossible  to  predicate  a  distribution  of  their  de- 
scendants because  as  yet  the  vast  majority  have  not  at- 
tained the  years   and   maturity  necessary   to   their  be- 

♦Jenks,  J.  W.— "The  Immigration  Problem"  p.  521  seq. 
**  Ogburn,  W.  F.— "A  Statistical   Study  of  American   Cities" 
Reed  College  Record,  No.  27,  Portland  Oregon,  Dec.  1917. 


34  THE  ITALIAN  CONTRIBUTION 

coming  "set"  or  "adjusted;"  thus  we  cannot  assign 
them  a  place  in  the  industrial  and  commercial  world. 
The  few  that  have  gone  out  before  represent  but 
an  infinitesimal  portion  of  the  Italian  blood  in  this  great- 
est Italian  center  in  the  world.  The  chances  are  that 
when  this  chapter  comes  to  be  written  it  will  differ 
markedly  from  the  situation  as  it  exists  today  among  the 
adult  ancestor.  This  is  to  be  expected  because  of  the 
marked  disparity  in  the  percentages  of  the  industrially 
employed  Americans  of  Italian  extraction  and  Italians 
proper,  as  was  shown  in  the  preceding  diagrams. 

Most  conclusive  of  all,  however,  is  the  marked  differ- 
ences in  the  occupations  chosen  by  the  Italian  and  the 
American  of  Italian  extraction  as  shown  in  the  Report 
of  the  Immigration  Commission.  The  very  notable 
advance  is  made  in  the  rank  of  clerks  and  copyists  from 
twenty-fourth  place  in  the  first  generation  to  fourth 
in  the  second;  and  of  salesmen  from  twenty-first  in  the 
first  generation  to  sixth  place  in  the  second.* 

By  far  the  greatest  majority  of  these  industrial  work- 
ers are  crowded  in  the  lower  part  of  Manhattan  as  is 
shown  in  the  following  diagram  :** 

DISTRIBUTION     OF     ITALIANS    AND     RESIDENCES     OF 
WORKERS  EMPLOYED  IN  LOWER  MANHATTAN 

Proportion  of  total  workers  living  in 
Sex  Manhattan        Manhattan  Other 

below  14  St.      above  14  St.         boroughs  Jersey 

Male  61.7  14.4  21.3  2.6 

Female  75.7  8.5  10.5  5.3 

WHAT  THE  "NEW"  GENERATION  HOPES  FOR— 
Miss  Brandt  tried  an  experiment  some  years  ago,  going 
down  to  the  large  Italian  School  at  Mulberry  Bend  Park 
and  asking  the  children  there  what  they  would  like  to 
do  for  a  living.  She  says,  "The  most  striking  manifes- 
tation of  the  American  spirit  was  disclosed  in  the  econ- 
omic aspirations  of  the  children  i.  e.  Americans  of  Ital- 
ian extraction.    The  ambition  which  in  Italy  would  have 

*  Occupation  of  the  Immigrant — Vol.  65,  p.  173. 
*♦  Pratt,  E.  E.,  "Causes  of  Industrial  Congestion  in  New  York 
City"  pp.  138-140. 


TO  AMERICAN  DEMOCRACY  35 

been  dormant  is  aroused  in  America  by  the  all  pervasive 
idea  of  'getting  ahead.'  It  is  the  exception  if  the  son 
of  the  immigrant  who  works  at  the  shovel  or  goes  out 
with  the  hod,  grows  up  to  use  the  same  tool."  t  Of  the 
150  children  of  whom  the  question  "What  are  you  going 
to  be,  or  what  do  you  prefer  doing  for  a  living,"  was 
asked,  the  following  were  the  answers  received: 

BOYS  (66)  GIRLS  (77) 

4 — undecided  47 — dressmakers 

10 — chose  father's  calling  13 — teachers 

2 — not  indicated  in  any  way 
49 — vocation     different     from 
father 

NOTE:  Of  the  49  who  chose  vocations  different  from  that 
of  their  father's,  the  following  occupations  were  noted  in  order 
of  greatest  frequency — physician,  lawyer,  musician,  painter, 
writer  of  books,  teacher,  sculptor,  policeman,  fireman,  and 
saloon  keeper. 

Dr.  Van  Denburg*  put  practically  the  same  question 
"What  do  you  expect  to  do  for  a  living"  to  211  boys 
and  278  girls  in  the  public  high  schools  of  this  city  and 
got  the  following  results:  Of  the  211  boys  who  ex- 
pressed a  choice,  the  occupations  chosen  were 

Vocation  Number  Pupils        Approximate  Percent 

Architect  7  3.3 

Business    36  17.0 

Electrician 9  4.2 

Civil   Engineer   39  18.4 

Electrical  Engineer 27  12.7 

Mechanical  Engineer  5  2.3 

Law   24  11.4 

Medicine    7  3.3 

Msce.  Trades  8  3.7 

Msce.   Construction   14  6.6 

Teacher    11  5.2 

Engineer    5  2.3 

Scattering  19  9.0 

TOTAL    211  100.0 

t  Brandt,  Lillian— "A  Transplanted  Birthright"  The  De- 
velopment of  the  Second  Generation  of  Italians  in  an  Ameri- 
can Environment,  Charities,  1904. 

*Van  Denburg,  Dr.  J.— "Causes  of  Retardation  and  Elimi- 
nation in  our  City  Schools"  Columbia  University,  Studies  in 
Education,  Teachers  College  Record,  p.  49. 


36  THE  ITALIAN  CONTRIBUTION 

The  girl's  choices  were  expressed  as  follows: 

Vocation                        Number  Pupils  Approximate  Percent 

Bookkeeper    9  32 

Designer    6  2.1 

Dressmaker    7  2.5 

Musician    7  12.5 

Stenographer    46  16.9 

Teacher   in    Public   School.        167  60.0 

Teacher    12  4.3 

Scattering    24  8.6 

TOTAL    278  100.0 

The  same  experiment  as  conducted  by  Miss  Brandt 
was  repeated  at  the  Italian  School  by  the  writer  with 
the  following  results : 

BOYS  (81)  GIRLS  (78) 

Vocation  Number       Vocation  Number 

Ad^echanic   17        Dressmaker    31 

Stenographer   6        Operator  on  machines  21 

Soldier  6        Typists    8 

Sailor  6        Teacher  8 

Printer    6        Embroiderer  4 

Carpenter  5        Doll  maker  2 

Engineer  4        Music  teacher  1 

Civil  Engineer  4        Glove  maker  1 

Machinist  4        Pianist  1 

Truckman    4        Housekeeper    1 

Doctor  3 

Shipping  Clerk   3 

Lawyer    3 

Professor  3 

Telephone  operator  2 

Chauffeur    2 

Fireman    1 

Artist   1 

Musician  1 

These  figures  all  show  beyond  peradventure  of  doubt 
the  Americanizing  influences  going  on  rapidly  apace 
among  the  Italian  element  in  the  life  of  our  city.  It  also 
tends  to  show  that  the  day  is  passing  when  most  of  the 
physical  work,  such  as  digging,  building,  and  heavy  con- 
struction work  is  to  be  done  chiefly  by  our  Italian  ele- 
ment. The  growing  generation  of  Italian  origin  changes 
markedly  in  his  desires,  aspirations  and  ambitions  for  the 
future  from  his  parents,  as  the  figures  show.  Of  those  al- 
ready sufficiently  advanced  to  show  what  choices  are 
actually  being  made  the  profession  of  medicine  seems 
most  popular.  This  is  followed  by  law  and  lastly  by 
teaching.  For  the  girls,  no  adequate  indices  exist  that 
warrant  us  making  any  statement. 


TO  AMERICAN  DEMOCRACY  37 

CHAPTER  V 
HEALTH 

INTRODUCTION— The  American  of  Italian  extrac- 
tion is  descended  from  a  race  that  is  noted  for  its  ro- 
bustness and  vitaHty.  Years  of  labor  in  the  sunny  fields 
of  Italy,  a  life  almost  continuously  out  of  doors,  have 
served  to  enrich  the  Italian  with  a  native  physical  con- 
stitution and  endowed  him  with  a  fund  of  rugged  health 
that  stands  him  in  good  stead.  This  fact  alone  has  made 
possible  his  standing  up  under  the  severe  strain  and 
stress  to  which  his  physical  constitution  is  subjected  in 
doing  such  work  as  digging  tunnels,  erecting  sky-scrap- 
ers, and  building  railroads.  With  his  children  however, 
the  case  is  different.  An  unusually  high,  in  fact  the 
highest  mortality  rate  for  first  generation  of  Americans 
of  all  descents  obtains  among  the  offspring  of  the  Ital- 
ian. With  respect  to  tuberculosis,  the  disease  that  is 
most  ravishing  and  takes  the  highest  toll.  Dr.  Stella, 
who  has  made  specific  and  detailed  studies  of  Italian  sec- 
tions in  New  York  City,  says,  "If  we  are  to  accept  the 
principle  of  health,  that  a  density  greater  than  25  persons 
per  acre  and  an  aggregation  greater  than  2  people  per 
room  which  does  not  allow  at  least  85  cm.  of  air  per 
person,  is  bad  for  both  the  social  well  being  and  the  in- 
dividual health,  we  must  immediately  conclude  that  the 
homes  in  which  the  Americans  of  Italian  extraction  live 
are  absolutely  responsible  for  their  acquired  suscepti- 
bility to  tuberculosis."*  Other  authors  in  attempting  to 
explain  the  high  death  rate  among  Italians,  have  mis- 
takenly had  recourse  to  the  facts  of  diet  as  the  entire 
cause  for  this  high  mortality  rate.  Jones,  for  instance 
believes  that,  "The  necessity  for  a  different  food  from 
that  to  which  he  has  been  accustomed  is  not  understood 
at  first.  Italians  learn  to  eat  the  proper  amount  of  meat 
only  after  they  have  been  here  some  time  and  find  them- 
selves unable  to  cope  with  the  conditions  of  labor  and 

*  Stella,  Antonio — "La   Lotta   contra   la   Tuberculosis   f  ra  gli 
Italiani  nella  Citta  di  New  York",  p.  AS, 


38  THE  ITALIAN  CONTRIBUTION 

of  weather  to  which  they  are  subjected.  The  high  death 
rate  among  them  is  totally  due  to  a  diet  too  exclusively 
vegetable  to  supply  the  necessary  nutrition."* 

The  authors  of  "The  Tenement  House  Problem"  also 
conclude  that,  "The  generally  high  death  rate  of  the 
Italian  race  is  due  to  the  fact  that  they  are  unable  to 
adapt  their  diet  to  our  climate  and  live  upon  a  kind  of 
food,  adequate  for  the  South  of  Italy,  but  totally  inade- 
quate for  New  York  City."**  In  this  the  authors  fail 
to  keep  apart  the  problem  of  the  Italian  and  that  of  the 
American  of  Italian  extraction.  The  two  problems  from 
the  standpoint  of  health  are  as  different  as  are  the  in- 
dividuals concerned.  It  is  patent  that  in  the  case  of  the 
American  of  Italian  extraction  who  has  not  known  for 
at  least  the  first  twenty  years  of  his  life,  the  frugal 
cereal  diet  of  his  father,  the  problem  of  dietary  read- 
justment is  of  less  concern  than  that  of  congestion,  over- 
crowding and  filthy  rooms,  inadequate  ventilation,  lack 
of  sanitary  appliances,  and  absence  of  fresh  air  and  sun- 
light. It  is  these  latter  causes  that  have  given  the  Amer- 
ican of  Italian  extraction  the  highest  mortality  rate  of 
any  descendants  of  any  immigrant  stocks  in  our  city, 
and  have  made  for  the  "heightened  susceptibility"  to 
disease  of  which  Dr.  Stella  speaks. 

VITAL  STATISTICS— Comparing  the  death  rate  for 
foreign-born  children  with  the  children  of  native  stock, 
it  is  impossible  to  determine  for  the  racial  stock  that  we 
are  studying,  figures  that  apply  directly  in  this  connec- 
tion. An  investigation  conducted  some  years  ago  on  an 
extensive  scale  in  New  York  City  among  school  children 
will  point  out  what  undoubtedly  in  a  general  way  exists 
among  this  particular  type,  excepting  that  conditions  on 
the  whole  are  constantly  being  bettered. 

Taking  the  entire  city,  it  was  found  that  about  two- 
thirds  of  the  children  examined  in  the  public  schools 
several  years  ago  were  physically  defective.  The  spe- 
cific causes  found  were  mal-nutrition,  present  in  12.9% 
of  the  defective  children  ;  79%  with  bad  teeth  that  needed 
treatment;  45%  suffered  from  throat  trouble;  47%  with 

*  Jones,  T.  J. — "Sociology  of  a  City  Block",  p.  72. 
**De  Forest  and  VeilHer— "The  Tenement  House  Problem", 
p.  294. 


TO  AMERICAN  DEMOCRACY  39 

nose  trouble;  and  70%  suffered  from  enlarged  glands. 
In  round  numbers,  the  conditions  found  in  New  York 
City  showed  that  41,600  children  were  insufficiently  fed, 
and  that  almost  300,000  had  bad  teeth.* 

Among  the  higher  ages,  correspondingly  high  figures 
for  New  York  City  were  obtained.  For  the  whole  coun- 
try during  the  war  more  than  50%  of  our  young  men 
were  rejected  on  account  of  physical  unfitness  out  of 
which  city  boys  contributed  28.47%  in  New  York 
City.**  At  many  recruiting  stations  80%  out  of  100% 
recruits  who  presented  themselves,  were  frequently 
found  unfit.  Out  of  a  group  of  80  volunteers  only  8 
could  stand  the  preliminary  examinations. f  Dr.  Ayres' 
investigation  of  3,304  New  York  City  children,  found 
only  919  to  be  without  defects.^ 

Data  from  the  office  of  the  Italian  Consulate  for  a 
representative  year  showed  that  out  of  11,396  men  about 
20  years  of  age  examined  for  military  service,  3,921  were 
rejected  and  only  7,475  accepted.  In  Italy  the  percentage 
of  rejections  varied  from  15%  to  22%  ;  in  New  York 
City,  for  the  same  stock  the  percentage  jumped  from 
30%  to  35%. 

In  the  only  study  of  its  kind  made  in  New  York  City 
bearing  directly  on  the  type  in  question  here,  we  are 
able  to  present  some  data  regarding  the  extremely  high 
mortality  rate  prevalent.  Dr.  Stella,  President  of  the 
Roman  Legion  of  America  who  made  this  study  says, 
"thru  the  courtesy  of  Dr.  Guilfoy,  Registrar  of  Vital 
Statistics  and  who  personally  checked  the  figures  herein 
cited,  and  to  whom  I  desire  publicly  to  express  my  grat- 
itude, I  am  able  to  present  some  very  interesting  data 
regarding  Italian  children  in  certain  blocks  in  New  York 

*  American  Statistical  Association,  Vol.  X,  p.  30.  Frederick 
Hoffman,  "The  General  Death  Rate  of  Large  American  Cities." 
(It  is  added  by  the  author  that  the  term  "foreign-born"  is 
seriously  misleading  if  the  various  nationalities  are  considered 
in  the  aggregate  for  there  are  wide  differences  in  the  mortality 
and  disease  liability  of  the  different  nationalities.) 

**  Evening  Mail  Editorial,  July  10,  1918,  Dr.  Maximilian  P.  E. 
Groszmann. 

t  Rumely,  Dr.  E.  A.,  Evening  Mail,  July  6,  1918. 

$  Ayres,  Leonard  P. — "Laggards  in  our  City  Schools,"  p.  124. 


40  THE  ITALIAN  CONTRIBUTION 

City,  classified  according  to  ages  and  kinds  of  sickness. 
This  is  the  first  time  that  such  a  study  has  been  made 
with  respect  to  age  and  nationality  in  Manhattan  and 
the  results  are  extremely  instructive."* 

The  studies  conducted  by  Dr.  Stella  are  particularly 
valuable  because  they  represent  actual  conditions.  What 
he  did  was  to  make  a  fi.rst-hand  investigation  or  a  health- 
assay  as  it  were,  of  specific  localities.  His  data  repre- 
sent concrete  facts  painstakingly  gathered  and  carefully 
analyzed.  As  he  himself  puts  it  "it  was  a  study  of  the 
particular  conditions  and  habits,  in  short  of  the  whole 
life  of  that  population  which  is  crowded  in  blocks  below 
East  112th  Street,  between  First  and  Second  Avenues, 
and  of  Block  X,  East  Houston,  Prince,  Elizabeth  and 
Mott  Streets.  The  conditions  found  afford  graphic  evi- 
dence illustrating  the  effects  of  over-crowding.  I  have 
picked  for  the  study  ten  blocks  afterwards  described  be- 
cause they  contained  a  representative  number  of  tene- 
ment houses  in  various  parts  of  the  city  among  those 
most  populated  and  which  were  at  the  same  time  in- 
habited by  Italians."** 

The  results  of  his  investigations  are  amazing. 

According  to  the  original  data  carefully  collected  from 
certain  typical  blocks,  it  was  found  as  can  be  seen  in  the 
following  tables  that  the  general  mortality  for  New  York 
City  when  this  study  was  made  was  18.35  per  1000  popu- 
lation and  for  children  below  5  years  of  age,  51.5  per 
1000.  On  the  other  hand  contrasted  to  these  figures  the 
data  for  6  typical  Italian  blocks  gave  the  following  as- 
tonishing results : 

AVERAGE    ITALIAN    MORTALITY    (For   1000   Inhabitants) 

Block  (isolated)  A 24.5        Below  5  years  of  age 87.03 

92.2 

81.6 

74.7 

83.1 

59.5 


B 

24.9 

c 

224 

D                -22..'; 

F 

22.3 

F 

23.2 

♦Stella,  Antonio;  La  Lotta  Contro  La  Tubercolosi  fra  gli 
Italian!  nella  Citta  di  New  York,  ed  Effetti  dell'  Urbanismo. 
(The  struggle  against  tuberculosis  among  Italians  in  New  York 
City  and  the  effects  of  city  life.) 

**The  quotations  below  are  translations  by  the  writer  from 
Dr.  Stella's  work  cited  above. 


TO  AMERICAN  DEMOCRACY  41 

AVERAGE    MORTALITY    FOR    RESPIRATORY    DISEASES 

For  the  entire  city  (per  1000  pop.) 12.7 

Rate  for  Italian  blocks  (below  5  years)  : 

Block  A  32.9        Block  D  28.6 

"      B  47.8  "      E  49.0 

"      C  35.3  "      F  17.8 

AVERAGE  MORTALITY   FOR   INFANTILE  DIARRHEA 

Average  mortality  for  the  entire  city  (per  1000  pop.) 12.9 

Average  mortality  for  Italian  blocks  : 

Block  A  22.3        Block  D  13.8 

"      B  19.1  "      E  19.3 

"      C  17.6  "      F  14.9 

GENERAL   MORTALITY   FOR   DIPHTHERIA 

Mortality  for  entire  city  (per  100  inhabitants) 2.8 

Average  mortality  for  Italian  blocks  : 

Block  A  4.34        Block  D  8.93 

"      B  3.71  "      E  3.20 

"      C  4.61  "      F  

These  figures  speak  for  themselves.  Dr.  Guilfoy,  Regis- 
trar of  Vital  Statistics  for  the  New  York  City  Depart- 
ment of  Health,  in  reviewing  them  calls  it  "an  astonish- 
ing condition  heretofore  unheard  of,  for  the  rate  of  mor- 
tality presented  by  these  above  figures  was  over  2^ 
times  that  among  American  boys  and  girls."  He  has 
himself  recently  collected  the  same  data  though  for  all 
nationalities  and  brought  them  down,  up  to  date,  in  an 
excellent  little  monograph.*  In  this  little  brochure  Dr. 
Guilfoy  shows  where  the  rugged  constitutions  of  the 
Italian  parent  operate  to  have  a  favorable  showing  for 
the  Italian  stock  when  compared  to  the  native  American 
stock.**  These  figures  hold  for  children  under  1  year 
of  age: 

BOROUGH  OF  MANHATTAN— 1915 

INFANT     MORTALITY     ACCORDING     TO     NATIONALITY 

OF  MOTHER  FROM  CONGENITAL  DISEASES 

PER  10,000  BIRTHS  RECORDED 

Country  Total  births        Deaths     Total  congenital     Rate 

reported  diseases 

United  States  17,210  81  937  544 

Italy  14,946  53  442  295 

♦Guilfoy,  Dr.  Wm.  H.— "The  influence  of  Nationality  upon 
the  Mortality  of  a  Community"  (with  special  references  to  the 
City  of  New  York)  Monograph  Series  No.  11,  Dept.  of  Health, 
Nov.  1917. 
**  Ibid.  p.  U, 


42  THE  ITALIAN  CONTRIBUTION 

These  figures  show  to  the  great  disadvantage  of  the 
native  or  American  population.  As  the  Italian  lengthens 
his  stay  here  however,  environment  begins  to  tell.  In 
considering  the  mortality  of  children  up  to  five  years  of 
age  according  to  the  nationality  of  the  mother,  the  high- 
est mortality  was  found  among  the  Italian  children 
where  425  out  of  every  10,000  children  of  Italian  mothers 
died  during  the  year  1915.  Taking  the  mortality  figures 
for  particular  diseases  we  note  the  following:  for  in- 
fectious diseases  the  children  of  Italian  parents  show  the 
highest  mortality  or  381  per  10,000  births  as  compared 
to  259  for  children  of  native  stock  in  1915;  for  respira- 
tory diseases  their  preeminence  is  established  again  with 
176  deaths  as  over  against  97  for  every  10,000  births  of 
native  stock,  or  what  is  more  than  3^  times  that  of 
children  of  German  mothers,  almost  3  times  that  of 
children  of  Russian,  Austro-Hungarian  and  Irish  moth- 
ers and  a  little  less  than  double  that  of  American 
mothers.* 

HEALTH  AGENCIES — There  are  two  chief  agencies 
that  look  after  the  health  of  these  people,  (1)  The  Ital- 
ian Colony  and  (2)  The  New  York  City  Health  Depart- 
ment. Because  the  work  of  the  latter  is  in  no  way  dif- 
ferent among  these  people  from  that  which  obtains 
among  other  city  dwellers  only  the  first  agency  is  dealt 
with  here. 

The  work  of  the  Italian  health  agencies  in  this  city, 
however,  need  not  detain  us  long.  Mangano  says:** 
"There  are  numerous  special  efforts  made  to  reach  the 
Italian  stock,  yet  it  is  a  lamentable  fact  that  few  insti- 
tutions exist  as  a  direct  result  of  Italian  initiative."  There 
are  no  Mt.  Sinai's  in  the  Italian  colony.  The  two  chief 
reasons  for  this  are  (1)  the  lack  of  a  moneyed  class 
among  the  Italian-speaking  people,  (2)  the  compara- 
tively low  percentage  of  medically  employed  Americans 
of  Italian  extraction  in  'New  York  City  who  are  in  a 
position  to  point  out  to  the  public  particular  conditions, 
and  put  into  effect  possible  remedies. 

Columbus  Hospital  is  the  oldest  Italian  health  agency 

*  Dr.  Guilfoy,  p.  13  seq. 
**  Mangano — "Sons  of  Italy"  p.  136. 


TO  AMERICAN  DEMOCRACY  43 

in  the  city.  It  is  located  on  20th  Street,  between  Second 
and  Third  Avenues,  and  was  organized  in  1892.  Its  su- 
pervision is  under  the  order  of  the  Missionary  Sisters 
of  the  Sacred  Heart.  Columbus  Hospital  has  no  en- 
dowment, and  depends  entirely  for  support  on  the  work 
of  the  Sisters  of  this  Order.  Although  it  is  generally 
known  as  an  Italian  institution,  yet  figures  for  some 
years  back  show  that  of  the  21  doctors  on  the  staff,  not 
one  was  Italian.  The  Sisters,  who  are  responsible  for 
the  continuance  of  this  institution  though,  are  all  native 
Italians;  of  the  patients,  fully  95%  are  of  Italian  blood. 

The  one  public  enterprise  that  has  had  the  backing 
and  support  of  Italians  in  New  York  City  is  the  Italian 
Hospital  on  E.  84th  Street.  *  The  wealthy  silk  manu- 
facturer Celestino  Piva  has  made  this  his  particular 
"hobby"  and  an  annual  reception  is  given  under  his  di- 
rection, the  proceeds  of  which  go  toward  the  mainte- 
nance of  this  institution.  In  this  way  thousands  of  dol- 
lars are  collected.  The  Italian  Hospital,  while  not  a 
large  hospital,  is  thoroughly  up-to-date,  with  modern 
equipment,  and  does  a  very  effective  work. 

The  Washington  Square  Hospital  in  Washington  Park 
was  started  some  years  ago  by  Dr.  Carlo  Savini.  Dr. 
Savini  is  one  of  the  best  Italian  surgeons  here  and 
his  hospital  is  as  efficiently  managed  as  is  any  mod- 
ern high  class  private  institution.  Dr.  Savini  has  at- 
tracted to  him  not  only  Italian-speaking  people,  but 
many  of  other  descents  in  this  city. 

Notwithstanding  the  rather  dark  picture  of  conditions 
in  the  Italian  districts  above  painted,  the  Tenement 
House  Department  declares  that  the  tenements  in  the 
Italian  quarter  are  much  cleaner  than  those  in  the  Jew- 
ish or  the  Irish  quarters.  The  writer  believes  that  there 
is  very  little  to  choose  from  any  one  of  these  three  that 
would,  in  any  great  way,  be  different  today,  though  in 
the  early  days  going  back  as  far  as  1842,  in  his  first  an- 
nual report  for  the  Health  Department,  Dr.  Griscom  de- 
scribed unhygienic  conditions,  dirt,  and  gave  mortality 

*The  president  of  this  institution  is  the  well  known  and 
popular  Dr.  John  W.  Perrilli,  who  not  long  ago  was  appointed 
by  Mayor  Hylan   a  Trustee  of  Bellevue  and  Allied  Hospitals. 


44  THE  ITALIAN  CONTRIBUTION 

figures  among  the  Irish  of  that  day  that  were  very  much 
worse  around  Cherry  Hill,  Crosby  Street  and  the  Five 
Points  section,  than  are  those  which  exist  today  in  the 
worst  Italian  blocks. 

There  is  no  doubt  that  the  values  in  Italian  quarters 
have  risen  immensely  and  that  this  is  not  entirely  due 
to  the  unprecedent  rise  in  New  York  City  real  estate 
values.  Mangano  says  that  "Fifteen  years  ago  before 
the  Italian  influx,  twenty-five  foot  tenements  were  worth 
$10,000  to  $15,000.  They  are  now  worth  $40,000."  How 
much  of  this  is  due  to  the  fact  that  Italians  make  desir- 
able neighbors,  and  how  much  to  the  natural  increase 
in  values  it  is  of  course  impossible  to  say.  Both  obtain. 
Education  and  municipal  attention  to  the  problem  of 
health  is  doing  much  to  better  the  health  standards  of 
this  group  and  increase  the  value  of  the  quarters  they  oc- 
cupy. The  Charity  Organization  Society  conducts  in 
greater  New  York  under  the  authority  of  the  City  Health 
Department  an  Italian  Bureau,  and  furnishes  the  latest 
knowledge  in  preventive  measures.  By  means  of  lec- 
tures, slides,  literature,  and  practical  demonstrations,  an 
effective  campaign  is  being  constantly  waged  against 
that  most  insidious  foe — ignorance. 


TO  AMERICAN  DEMOCRACY  45 

CHAPTER  VI 
STANDARD  OF  LIVING 

INTRODUCTION— The  "Standard  of  Living"  is  a 
phrase  that  has  been  variously  defined.  Streighthoff  says 
that  "the  st^andard  of  living  consists  of  what  men  ac- 
tually enjoy."*  Chapin,  in  a  study  bearing  directly  on 
conditions  in  New  York  City  holds  that  the  problem  of 
the  standard  of  living  presents  both  an  absolute  and  a 
relative  aspect,  namely  (1)  "a  reliable  presentation  of 
actual  data  for  a  given  time,  place,  and  class"  and  (2) 
"a  comparison  with  the  standards  of  different  times, 
places,  and  classes."**  Morimoto  in  the  most  recent 
study  on  this  subject  says  that  "the  standard  of  living 
is  the  controlling  element  in  economic  activities. "f 
Franklin  H.  Giddings  says  "the  commodities  that  a  la- 
boring class  consumes  are  not  its  standard  of  living. 
They  are  merely  an  index  of  its  standard.  The  real 
standard  of  living  is  a  certain  conception  of  economic 
life  which  regulates  beliefs  and  new  ideas  in  varying 
proportions  and  changes  as  these  factors  change. "$ 

It  may  seem  strange  that  in  studying  Americans  of 
Italian  extraction  we  should  concern  ourselves  with  so- 
ciological data  that  are  preeminently  Italian.  This  fol- 
lows though  necessarily  from  the  fact  that  the  first  and 
even  the  second  generations  of  Americans  of  Italian 
blood  are  never  absolutely  removed  from  the  influences 
and  physical  environment  of  the  Italian  parent.  For 
twenty  years,  and  more  in  very  many  cases,  the  Ameri- 
can of  Italian  extraction  has  been  under  the  shaping  in- 
fluences of  a  home  that  in  many  cases  is  more  Italian 
than  American.  § 

*  Streighthoff,  F.  H.  "The  Standard  of  Living"  p.  2ff. 
**  Chapin,  R.  C.  "The  Standard  of  Living  Among  Working- 
men's  Families  in  New  York  City"  passim. 

t  Morimoto    Kokichi,   "Standard   of   Living   in   Japan,   John 
Hopkins  Univ.  Studies,"  1918.  p.  11. 

$  Giddings,  Franklin  H.  "Descriptive  and  Historical  Sociol- 
ogy", p.  253. 

§  See  explanation,  supra,  p.  29. 


46  THE  ITALIAN  CONTRIBUTION 

The  degree  of  saturation  with  foreign  culture  varies. 
There  is  a  constant  change  and  shifting  in  the  influence 
and  importance  of  home  life  upon  the  American  of  Ital- 
ian extraction  rising  directly  from  the  fact  that  he  is  get- 
ting older  and  thinks  for  himself,  and  secondly,  because 
the  parents  themselves  are  slowly  but  surely  becoming 
changed. 

In  times  like  these  it  is  difficult  to  get  any  data  con- 
cerning family  budgets  and  living  expenses  that  the  next 
few  years  will  not  see  materially  changed.  It  is  a  ques- 
tion whether  any  of  the  past  studies  will  hold  to  the 
same  relative  degree  because  of  these  shifting  stand- 
ards due  to  the  war.  How  different  conditions  are  from 
what  they  were  a  year  ago  can  be  seen  in  a  little  re- 
port* made  by  a  special  committee  appointed  to  investi- 
gate increased  living  costs.  The  findings  of  this  com- 
mittee show  an  increase  of  85%  in  food  and  clothing 
prices  alone.  An  investigation  carried  on  among  families 
of  limited  means  in  Boston  showed  similar  results.  In 
this  latter  instance  of  the  200  families  studied  which 
included  seventeen  nationalities,  one-fourth  were  Ital- 
ians. The  average  income  of  each  family  was  shown  to 
be  somewhere  between  $15-$19  a  week.**  In  New  York 
City  a  group  of  377  families,  a  majority  of  which  were 
exactly  the  type  that  we  are  studying  according  to  the 
investigation  made  by  the  New  York  Association  for 
the  Improvement  of  the  Condition  of  the  Poor  showed 
that  increased  living  costs  had  mounted  to  26%  or  that 
"the  wage  earner's  dollar  of  January,  1918  had  slightly 
less  than  four-fifths  the  purchasing  power  of  the  wage 
earner's  dollar  of  1917."f 

That  the  whole  general  stratum  of  living  costs  in  re- 
lation to  wages  has  been  upset  by  war  times  can  be 
readily  seen  when  we  consider  that  Federal  statistics 
show  the  increase  in  the  cost  of  living  to  be  about  twice 

♦Bankers  Trust  Company  Report  on  Increased  Living 
Costs,   1917. 

♦♦League  for  Preventive  Work — Food  Supply  in  Families  of 
Limited  Means,  Michael  M.  Davis.  Jr.,  Boston,  1917. 

tWinslow,  "My  Money  Won't  Reach"  Committee  on  Home 
Economics,  Charity  Organization  Society,  April,  1918. 


TO  AMERICAN  DEMOCRACY  47 

as   great   in   relative  percentages    as    the    increase    in 
wages.* 

Perhaps  as  good  an  impression  of  the  way  wages 
have  changed  within  the  last  few  years  can  be  gathered 
from  a  copy  of  the  "Report  of  the  Committee  on 
War  Finance  of  the  American  Economic  Association" 
given  to  the  writer  by  its  chairman  Prof.  E.  R.  A.  Selig- 
man.  The  committee  in  summarizing  the  data  of  wage 
changes  for  different  sections  of  the  country  shows  "that 
the  average  increase  of  laboring  men's  wages  from  1913- 
1918  was  somewhere  between  40-50%."**  In  some  dis- 
tricts wages  advanced  from  40-70%  but  in  very  many 
others,  wages  such  as  those  of  iDakers,  hod  carriers, 
bricklayers,  plasterers,  etc.,  increased  but  20%.  This 
same  committee's  report  on  price  changes  show  the  aver- 
age advance  "of  75%  from  1913-1917  and  of  92%  to  1918 

*The  index  number  for  the  relative  prices  of  food  alone 
in  the  United  States  prepared  by  the  Bureau  of  Labor  Sta- 
tistics shows  an  average  increase  from  1913-1917  of  46%  where- 
as wages  have  risen  less  rapidly.  Dr.  Kemmerer  through  the 
courtesy  of  Dr.  Royal  Meeker,  U.  S.  Commissioner  of  Labor 
Statistics  was  able  to  give  in  advance  figures  regarding  the 
Bureaus  recently  compiled  index  numbers  covering  rates  of 
wages  per  hour  for  union  labor  in  a  large  number  of  occu- 
pations throughout  the  United  States.  The  official  figures  are 
given  in  column  1  of  the  following  table,  and  the  same  figures 
adjusted  to  the  basis  of  the  average  for  the  period  1910-1914 
as  100  are  given  in  column  2.  (See  American  Economic  Re- 
view, Vol.  7,  June  1918,  p.  265.) 

INDEX  NUMBERS  OF  UNION  WAGE  RATES 

Year  1  2 

1910  105  96 

1911  107  98 

1912  109  100 

1913  111  102 

1914  114  105 

1915  115  106 

1916  119  109 

1917  127  117 

This  shows  an  increase  of  14%  in  Union  wages  since  1914, 
as  compared  to  75%  increase  in  wholesale  prices  and  46% 
increase  in  the  retail  prices  of  food. 

**  Report  of  the  Committee  of  War  Finance,  Amer.  Econ- 
omic Association,  p.  106. 


48  THE  ITALIAN  CONTRIBUTION 

for  wholesale  prices  ;"*  for  retail  price  changes  the  com- 
mittee quotes  the  average  increase  of  70%  given  out  by 
the  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics,  and  the  77%  increase  for 
clothing;  45%  for  fuel  and  light  and  15%  for  rents — 
quoted  by  National  Industrial  Conference  Board.** 

The  most  thorough  study  of  conditions  representing 
the  standard  of  living  in  New  York  City  was  made  by 
Chapin  in  1909.  Three  hundred  ninety-one  families  were 
studied,  of  which  sixty-nine  were  Italian — a  number  that 
was  surpassed  only  by  the  American  and  the  Russian 
groups.  It  can  be  assumed  therefore  that  the  Italian 
families  studied  are  fairly  representative  of  the  type  to 
be  met  anywhere  in  the  Italian  colonies  in  the  greater 
city.  Of  the  sixty-nine  Italian  families  investigated, 
fifty-seven  showed  that  they  possessed  annual  incomes 
between  $600  and  $1100,  while  the  average  number  of 
persons  per  family  was  five.f 

INCOMES — There  are  three  chief  sources  of  income 
in  the  home  of  which  the  American  of  Italian  extraction 
forms  a  part.  They  are  (1)  the  adult  breadwinner  (2) 
boarders,  (3)  the  work  or  labor  of  this  type  of  Ameri- 
can himself.  The  adult  breadwinner  includes  both  male 
and  female  workers.  An  investigation  made  by  the  Im- 
migration Commission  revealed  the  fact  that  of  the 
women  of  Southern  Italian  families  studied,  two-thirds 
reported  average  earnings  of  less  than  $200.  The  writer 
is  inclined  to  think  this  amount  too  small  because  as  a 
rule  the  immigrant  worker  is  suspicious  and  distrustful 
about  making  disclosures  of  this  sort.  Among  the  men 
the  average  yearly  wage  for  the  2000  cases  studied  was 
found  to  be  between  $500  and  $600.  Another  source 
of  income  as  shown  by  its  prevalence  among  the  poorer 
Italian  homes  is  the  lodger  or  boarder.  Here  though 
the   Italian   family   has   a   low   average   compared   with 

*  Report  of  the  Committee  on  War  Finance,  American 
Economic  Association,  p.  104. 

**  Wartime  Changes  in  the  Cost  of  Living,  Research  Report 
No.  9,  Aug.  1918,  p.  64. 

t  In  a  study  of  200  workingmen's  families  in  New  York 
City,  Mrs.  L.  B.  More  found  6  persons  to  be  the  average. 
(Wage-earnerg  Budgets — L.  B.  More.) 


TO  AMERICAN  DEMOCRACY  49 

other  races.  Lauck  found  that  excepting  for  the  He- 
brew and  Bulgarians,  the  Southern  Italian  ranked  well 
up  with  an  average  of  but  33.5%  of  householders  keep- 
ing boarders  or  lodgers.  The  Serbian  family  was  high- 
est with  an  average  percentage  of  92.8%  and  was  fol- 
lowed closely  by  the  Roumanians  with  77.8%  respect- 
ively.* 

In  a  study  of  over  2000  households  these  figures  were 
largely  substantiated  in  the  following:** 
NUMBER    AND    PERCENT    OF    HOUSEHOLDS    KEEPING 
BOARDERS  AND  LODGERS 

Households  keeping  lodgers  or  boarders 
General  nativity    Total  number 
and  race  of  head  of 

household  households  Number  Percent 

Italian.  North  653  223  34.2 

Italian,  South  1530  512  35.5 

The  third  and  last  chief  source  of  income  in  the  Ital- 
ian household  occurs  when  the  American  of  Italian  ex- 
traction himself  is  made  to  go  out  and  help  support  the 
family.  If  this  is  ever  at  all  necessary  it  usually  begins 
at  an  early  age  and  is  one  of  the  greatest  handicaps  in 
the  development  of  this  type. 

The  chief  channels  open  to  children  of  fourteen  to 
eighteen  are  usually  the  making  of  artificial  flowers, 
working  on  garments  for  girls,  machine  operating,  run- 
ning errands,  shoeblacking,  truckdriving,  office  work 
and  other  blind  alleys  for  the  boys.  Divided  among  male 
and  female  it  was  found  that  9.9%  of  males  and  7.3% 
females  of  these  foreign-born  children  between  the  ages 
of  six  and  sixteen  were  at  work.  For  the  male  this  is 
but  2%  higher  than  the  average  of  all  nationalities  of 
children  in  New  York  City  gainfully  employed  as  found 
by  Prof.  Ogburn.***  The  percentage  of  females  so  em- 
ployed is  normal  when  compared  with  other  nationali- 
ties. 

An  age  distribution  of  over  500  Americans  of  Italian 
extraction  found  doing  work  in  their  tenement  homes 

*  Lauck  and  Sydenstricker,  "Conditions  of  Labor  in  Amer- 
ican Industries,"  p.  299. 
**Jenks  and  Lauck,  "The  Immigration  Problem,"  p.  506. 
***op.  cit.  p.  33. 


so  THE  ITALIAN  CONTRIBUTION 

by  Dr.  Stella  while  making  his  investigations  is  the  fol- 
lowing : 

CHILDREN  FOUND  AT  WORK  IN  TENEMENTS 

Number  AGES 

3    4     5      6      7      8      9     10    11     12    1314-16T't'l 
Children 

found  at  work    1    3    21    23    44    45    76    71    62    90    76    46    558 
Boys  1      4      8    10    14    26    15    21    26    19      8    152 

Girls  1    2    17    15    34    31  56    41    64    57    38    406 

Attending  school  12    16    41    43    70    68    59    82    67    33    491 

Not  Attending 
school  13973263389    13      67 

In  this  matter  of  child  labor  it  was  found  in  the  in- 
vestigation made  by  the  Immigration  Commission  that 
the  lowest  percentage  fell  to  the  Italians,  namely  13.3%. 
The  Germans  pressed  closely  after  with  13.9%,  and  the 
Syrian  and  Scotch  were  highest  with  22.6%  and  19% 
respectively.* 

Of  184  cases  of  Americans  of  Italian  extraction  be- 
tween the  ages  of  fourteen  and  eighteen  studied  by  the 
Immigration  Commission,  it  was  found  that  the  weekly 
wage  averaged  $6.14  for  the  boys  and  $5.54  for  the 
girls.** 

A  similar  investigation  conducted  among  working- 
men's  families  in  Buffalo  contained  one-fourth  of  Ital- 
ian famihes.  In  29%  the  mother's  earnings  added  to 
the  income,  and  the  number  of  cases  were  fairly  evenly 
distributed  among  the  different  races  with  one  excep- 
tion. The  exception  was  in  the  Italian  families  where 
only  one  mother  was  reported  as  adding  to  the  in- 
come.*** 

In  New  York  City  the  comparisons  afforded  in  Chap- 
in's  study  of  different  nationalities  with  respect  to  their 
sources  of  income  "show  that  the  greatest  dependence 
on  other  sources  than  the  father's  wages  is  found  among 
the  Bohemians,  Austrians,  and  Russians. "f  The  Italians 
rank  better  than  the  average  with  almost  51%  of  families 
supported  entirely  by  the  father — leading  all  the  other 
racial  stocks  of  the  "newer  immigration."  This  is  a  sub- 
stantial verification  of  the  responses  that  the  symposium 

*  Report  of  Immigration  Commission  on  Manufacturing  and 
Mining,  Abstract,  pp.  194-195. 

**Jenks — "The  Immigration  Problem"  pp.  534-535. 

***  Report  on  The  Standard  of  Living  Among  Working  Fam- 
ilies in  Buffalo. 

t  Chapin,  R.  C,  Standard  of  Living  in  New  York  City,  p.  59. 


TO  AMERICAN  DEMOCRACY  Si 

in  Chapter  XXV  brought  out  in  showing  that  18%  of 
the  contributors  attest  to  the  quality  or  trait  of  indus- 
triousness  as  being  a  marked  characteristic  of  the  Ital- 
ian people. 

HOUSING— Of  the  3,437,202  people  living  in  New 
York  City  at  the  time  the  Tenement  House  Commission 
made  its  investigation  2,372,079  people  were  occupying 
82,652  tenement  houses  where  there  were  350,000  dark 
interior  rooms.J  Conditions  therefore  that  we  shall  de- 
scribe among  Italians  are  GENERAL.  An  assay  of  one 
section  will  reflect  truly  the  general  conditions  that 
exist  in  all  of  the  Italian  colonies  scattered  throughout 
the  city.  Dr.  Laidlaw  found  the  housing  conditions  of 
the  Italian  district  he  visited  involving  9,353  tenement 
families  living  in  31,522  rooms,  an  average  of  3.37  rooms 
per  family.  There  were  eleven  blocks  of  the  thirty-two 
he  visited  with  3,413  families  resident  without  a  bath- 
tub. In  one  of  these  blocks  lived  628  families,  mostly 
Italians.* 

Chapin's  investigation  showed  the  average  size  of 
the  families  that  constituted  the  type  he  investigated 
to  be  five,  and  the  average  income  anywhere  from  $600- 
$1000.  Of  this  sum  $144  or  18%  must  be  paid  for  rent. 
Compared  with  conditions  in  Chicago  among  Italians  we 
see  that  things  are  worse  here.  In  Chicago**  the  me- 
dium rental  for  a  four  room  apartment  was  $12.00  to 
$12.50  paid  by  Italians.  This  is  higher  than  what  is  paid 
by  any  other  race  and  is  a  condition  that  is  general 
among  Italians  for  less  than  15%  of  such  families  own 
their  own  homes.  The  average  number  of  rooms  per 
apartment  was  found  to  be  3.64.f  The  average  number 
of  occupants  per  sleeping  rooms  was  1.42  as  compared  to 
.93  of  native-born  white  of  native  father.  In  New  York 
City  no  existing  investigation  is  available  that  has  feat- 
ured housing  expenditures  according  to  nationalities. 
Chapin  with  reference  to  his  own  labors  states  that  the 

X  DeForest  and  Veillier— "Tenement  House  Problem"  Vol.  1, 
p.  3. 

*  Federation,    Sociological    canvass    of    the    fourteenth    dis- 
trict (assembly)  of  the  lower  east  side,  June  1900,  p.  231. 

**  Walker— "Greeks  and  Italians  in  the  Neighborhood  of  Hull 
House." 

tFairchild — "Immigration"  p.  136. 


52  THE  ITALIAN  CONTRIBUTION 

number  of  cases  is  too  small  to  warrant  very  confident 
assertion.  What  meagre  data  were  obtainable  showed 
that  the  Italians  ranked  lowest  with  an  average  of  2.6 
for  incomes  at  $600  and  3.9  for  incomes  at  $900.§ 

In  the  matter  of  crowding  the  Italians  showed  up 
again  badly  viz  :* 

Total  number    Number  reporting  more 
Nationality        of  families  than  1^  persons  Percent 

per  room 
U.   S.  67  20  30 

Teutonic  39  8  21 

Irish  24  12  50 

Colored  28  16  57 

Bohemian  14  11  79 

Russian  57  35  61 

Austrian,  etc.  32  21  66 

Italian  57  Zl  65 

318  160 

Jones  corroborates  these  findings,  discovering  120 
families  housed  within  14  buildings  and  numbering  al- 
most 900  people.  Supporting  these  are  the  figures  of 
Dr.  Laidlaw  who  also  discovered  the  Italians  at  the  top 
in  this  deplorable  characteristic  with  13.3%  of  their  fam- 
ilies housed  in  one  room.  In  a  study  of  76  families  out  of 
11,546  in  New  York  City  where  overcrowding  was 
found,  the  Italian  distribution  showed  up  as  follows  :** 


Number  of 

Number  of 

Number  of 

It; 

ilian 

families 

persons 

rooms 

nationality 

Z7> 

6 

3 

4 

14 

8 

4 

3 

11 

9 

4 

2 

11 

7 

3 

1 

1 

10 

4 

1 

7 

8 

3 

1 

1 

6 

2 

1 

n  54  23  13 

The  Italians  in  this  investigation  lead  with  13.3%  of 
overcrowding.    The  Americans  are  lowest  with  but  .2%. 
SAVINGS  AND  THRIFT— Of  the  families  studied  by 

§  Chapin — "Standard  of  Living  in  New  York  City"  p.  IT. 
*  Chapin — "Standard  of  Living  in  New  York  City,"  p.  81. 
**  Federation.  Report  of  Auxiliary  D,  Third  Sociological  Can- 
vass, p.  60. 

See    Mrs.    L.    B.    More's    investigation    of   2200    workingmen's 
families  in  New  York  City,  Wage-earners  Budgets,  p.  67. 


TO  AMERICAN  DEMOCRACY  53 

Chapin  in  New  York  City,  the  largest  percentage  report- 
ing a  surplus  fell  to  the  Italians,  viz  :* 
Total  Number  TOTAL 


Nationality  of 

Balance  within  $25 

Surpl 

us 

Deficit 

Families 

No.             % 

No. 

% 

No.      % 

U.  S. 

67 

27              40 

15 

23 

25       37 

Teutonic 

39 

21              54 

9 

23 

9       23 

Irish 

24 

9              38 

7 

29 

8       33 

Colored 

28 

9              32 

7 

25 

12       43 

Bohemian 

14 

12              86 

2       14 

Russian 

57 

11              19 

29 

51 

17       30 

Austrian,  etc. 

32 

13              41 

16 

50 

3         9 

ItaHan 

57 

14              25 

33 

58 

10       17 

TOTAL 

318 

116              36.5 

116 

36.5 

86       27 

How  much  of  this  is  due  purely  to  thrift,  industry, 
and  savings,  and  how  much  because  this  type  is  satis- 
fied to  endure  a  lower  standard  of  living  is  impossible 
to  determine.  Industry  and  thrift,  as  an  overwhelming 
majority  of  the  contributors  to  the  symposium  on 
page  252  prove,  are  innate  traits  of  the  Italian  family. 
Regarding  the  second  point,  the  matter  of  a  lower  stand- 
ard of  living  Chapin  reports  a  very  favorable  finding 
for  the  Italian  viz  :** 

NUMBER  OF  FAMILIES  BELOW  STANDARD  AS  RE- 
GARDS FOOD,  CLOTHING  AND  SHELTER 


C  u 


Si? 

.                               «  ^«  ^v  So  a)-d 

^                     :=:  u.^  u'o  o'o  ^  c 

^                      S  ^o  ^g  ^g  ^^x. 

S                      S  clj  c2  ^2  ^"S^ 

.2  i>  u  ^  u  J^-C^ 

U.  S.                     67  4  4  7  2 

Teutonic                 39  3  2  1 

Irish                        24  1  2  6  1 

Colored                   28  3  5  8 

Bohemian               14  4  1 

Russian                   57  14  18  14  10 

Austrian                 32  6  8  13  5 

Italian                    57  2  2  31  2 

TOTAL                318  33  45  81  20 

*  Chapin— "Standard  of  Living  in  New  York  City,"  p.  235. 
♦*  Ibid,  p.  240. 


54  THE  ITALIAN  CONTRIBUTION 

This  thrift  spirit  of  the  Italians  was  by  Chapin  re- 
ported to  have  resulted  in  the  largest  proportion  of  fam- 
ilies with  savings  viz  :* 

SAVINGS  BY  NATIONALITIES 

Nationality                   No.  of  families  Savings 

United  States  67  5 

Teutonic   39  14 

Irish    24  1 

Colored  28  6 

Bohemian  14 

Russian   57  19 

Austrian 32  9 

Italian    57  29 

TOTAL 318  83 

This  same  spirit  has  left  its  influence  on  New  York 
City  through  the  fact  that  of  the  real  estate  of  New  York 
City  a  conservative  estimate  is  that  $100,000,000  of  such 
land  is  today  owned  by  Italians  or  Americans  of  Italian 
extraction,**  and  this  is  proportionally  not  as  much  as 
is  owned  by  this  same  type  in  St.  Louis,  Boston,  San 
Francisco  and  elsewhere. 

Lord  says  that  the  thrift  of  the  Italian  is  so  exceptional 
that  even  bootblacks  and  common  laborers  sometime 
figure  as  tenement  owners.  Italian  barbers  quite  fre- 
quently acquire  equities  in  tenements.  There  is  further 
a  rising  disposition  of  the  more  wealthy  merchants 
and  fruiterers  to  invest  their  earnings  in  tenements  in 
the  Italian  quarters. f  This  is  born  out  by  G.  Tosti,  a 
real  estate  dealer  who  says  that  whereas  twenty  years 
ago  there  was  hardly  an  Italian  real  estate  owner,  today 
one  is  able  to  list  over  800  in  this  city  alone. 

The  war  brought  forth  in  a  most  marked  way  their 
spirit  of  saving.  In  Brooklyn  the  Italians  have  organ- 
ized very  effectively  under  the  leadership  of  F.  P.  Buon- 
ora  and  enrolled  in  the  aggregate  fully  one-third  of  all 
the  Italians  in  Brooklyn  for  the  purpose  of  ^'saving" 
through  the  purchase  of  War  Saving  Stamps.    Over  200 

*  Chapin— "Standard  of  Living  in  New  York  City,"  p.  243. 
**  Sartorio,  Henry — "Social  and  Religious  Life  of  Italians  in 
America,"  p.  20. 

fLord,  Trenor  and  Barrows— "The  Italian  in  America,"  p.  V. 


TO  AMERICAN  DEMOCRACY  55 

societies  were  banded  together  and  more  than  $100,000 
was  collected.  The  best  record  however  that  comes  to 
light  in  this  connection  is  that  made  by  the  people  of 
Italian  blood  in  the  north-end  district  in  Boston.  Their 
thrift  netted  them  $300,000  for  war-savings  and 
thrift  stamps  alone,  and  to  them  was  awarded  a  silver 
cup  and  banner  for  having  made  the  largest  percentage 
of  gains  in  the  sales  of  War  Saving  Stamps  for  Suffolk 
County.  The  Hanover  Street  Postal  Station  under  the 
able  leadership  of  Lawrence  A.  Brignati  ranked  third 
in  the  country  in  the  amount  received  in  postal 
savings,  having  on  deposit  about  $100,000,000,  of  which 
about  85%  is  to  be  credited  to  Italians  and  their  off- 
spring.* In  this  city  the  latest  reports  show  Italian 
blood  here  to  have  invested  $20,000,000  in  the  last 
Liberty  Loan.  The  savings  banks  of  New  York  City 
show  that  $24,000,000  is  credited  to  them. 

The  ItaHan  Savings  Bank  at  64  Spring  Street  is  the 
largest  bank  of  its  kind  in  this  city,  having  a  total  of  de- 
posits amounting  to  $7,769,064  and  a  surplus  of  $453,622. 
Perhaps  the  bulk  of  savings  owned  by  Italian  speaking 
people  not  only  of  this  city  but  for  the  country  at  large  is 
in  the  hands  of  private  bankers.  Lionello  Perera,  69 
Wall  Street,  probably  is  the  largest  and  most  influential 
Italian  private  banker  in  this  city,  having  a  working  cap- 
ital of  almost  half  a  million.  M.  Berardini,  owner  of 
the  M.  Berardini  State  Bank  at  34  Mulberry  Street  is 
perhaps  next  with  a  capital  and  working  surplus  amount- 
ing to  three-quarters  of  a  million.  Others  to  be  men- 
tioned in  this  connection  are  the  Banca  Tocci,  Sessa, 
Verrilli,  Prisco  and  Avalona. 

Italian  finance  in  this  city  is  represented  by  four  in- 
stitutions. The  Banca  Commerciale  with  a  capital  of 
twenty-five  million  is  of  continental  fame.  The  Credito 
Italiano  is  represented  in  this  city  by  Felice  Bava,  66 
Broadway.  The  Banco  di  Napoli  is  the  oldest  Italian 
bank  and  is  capitalized  at  one  hundred  and  eighteen  mil- 
lion lire.    Its  offices  are  at  Spring  and  Lafayette  Streets. 

Two  important  features  pertaining  to  Italian  finance 

*  Boston  Chamber  of  Commerce— Current  Affairs,  July  15, 
1918,  p.  7. 


56  THE  ITALIAN  CONTRIBUTION 

in  this  city  are  of  recent  date.  One  is  the  purchase  by 
the  Banca  Commerciale  of  the  Lincoln  Trust  Company. 
The  100,000  shares  of  this  stock  were  purchased  at  $80 
above  their  par  value.  The  other  is  the  opening 
of  the  new  Banca  Italiana  di  Sconto  with  a  working 
capital  of  half  a  million  and  jointly  controlled  by  the 
Guaranty  Trust  and  the  Italian  Discount  and  Trust  Com- 
pany. These  two  features  Luigi  Criscuolo  believes  to  be 
"undoubtedly  part  of  a  plan  whereby  commercial  credits 
between  Italy  and  American  business  concerns  can  be 
facilitated."*  The  East  River  National  Bank  is  an  Ital- 
ian owned  bank.  The  names  of  Giannini  and  Granata 
stand  out  in  this  connection. 

*  Luigi  Criscuolo,  former  secretary  of  the  Advisory  Finance 
Committee,  United  States  Railroad  Administration;  II  Car- 
roccio,  Jan.  1919,  p.  68. 


TO  AMERICAN  DEMOCRACY  57 

CHAPTER  VII. 

LITERACY 

THE  "OLD"  VERSUS  THE  "NEW"  GENERATION 
— "Thanks  to  the  excellent  public  schools  of  the  United 
States  and  to  the  compulsory  educational  laws  of  many 
of  our  states,  the  question  of  illiteracy  is  not  one  of  the 
greatest  importance  in  the  second  generation."*  With 
the  immigrant  however  the  case  is  different.  The  rate 
of  synthetization  of  our  racial  stocks  depends  in  the 
first  instance  upon  the  degree  of  literacy  prevalent.  The 
percentage  of  illiteracy  varies  greatly  among  immigrants 
of  different  countries.  The  following  tables  showing  the 
different  percentages  of  illiterates  among  Italians  as 
compared  with  other  immigrant  stocks  were  compiled 
from  the  reports  of  the  Commissioner  General  of  Immi- 
gration and  appeared  in  the  Statistical  Review  of  Im- 
migration. 

ILLITERACY  OF  EUROPEAN  IMMIGRANTS 
1899—1910 


Immigrants  14yrs. 

Immigrant  illiterates 

of 

age  and  over 

14yrs.of  age 

and  over 

People 

Number 

Percent 

Jewish 

806,786 

209,507 

26.0 

Bohemian  and  Moravian 

79,721 

1,322 

1.7 

Croatian 

320,977 

115,785 

36.1 

English 

347,348 

3,648 

1.0 

Finnish 

137,916 

1,745 

1.3 

German 

625,793 

32,236 

5.2 

Greek 

208,608 

55,089 

26.4 

Irish 

416,640 

10,721 

2.6 

Italian,  North 

339,301 

38,897 

11.5 

Italian,  South 

1,690,376 

911,566 

53.9 

Lithuanian 

161,441 

79,001 

48.9 

Magyar 

307,082 

35,004 

11.4 

Polish 

861,303 

304,675 

35.4 

Ruthenian 

140,705 

76,165 

53.4 

Scandinavian 

530,634 

2,221 

.4 

Scotch 

115,788 

767 

.7 

Slovak 

342,583 

86,216 

24.0 

TOTAL  8,398,624  2,238,801  26.7 

Illiteracy   figures   for   the   total  immigration    to    the 

United  States  show  that  the  Southern  Italian  leads, 
*Jenks — "The  Immigration  Problem,"  p.  33, 


sg 


THE  ITALIAN  CONTRIBUTION 


being  surpassed  only  by  the  Turk  and  the  Portu- 
guese. Looking  at  this  question  in  the  large,  how- 
ever, the  authors  quoted  above  conclude  that  too 
much  emphasis  must  not  be  laid  upon  the  ques- 
tion of  illiteracy  since  this  disadvantage  in  most  cases 
disappears  in  the  second  generation,  i.  e.  the  type  we 
are  studying  here.  When  we  consider  that  in  Italy  84% 
of  the  taxes  are  spent  upon  the  national  debt,  upon  the 
administration,  and  upon  the  national  defense,  leaving 
but  16%  for  other  expenses,  we  can  realize  the  financial 
predicament  that  faces  the  Italian  there,  for  out  of  this 
16%,  only  2.79%  may  be  spent  upon  education. 

STATUS  IN  THE  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS  AT  LARGE 
— The  School  status  of  Americans  of  Italian  extraction 
for  the  country  at  large  as  com.pared  with  other  Amer- 
icans was  found  by  the  Immigration  Commission  to  be 
as  follows :  * 

PERCENTAGE  OF  PUPILS  IN  THE  DIFFERENT  GRADES 

OF  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS  BY  GENERAL  NATIVITY  AND 

RACE  OF  FATHER  OF  PUPIL 


^ 

^ 

^ 

Q 

^ 

H 

g 

i-t 

-t 

o 

3 

5" 

p 

^ 

a- 

3 

3 

sr 

p 

cr 

m 

p 

^^ 

(T> 

::i, 

i-i 

3 

cn 

't 

CfQ 

"<! 

p 

XT 

General  nativity 

o 

ft) 

o 

o 
o 

and 

Q 

3 

C/J 

p 

■-t 

p 

•"" 

Race  of  Father 

n' 

Vi 

Native-born  White 

32 

4.3 

52.1 

34"5 

9.1 

100.0 

Foreign-born : 

Bohemian 

10 

4.2 

61.4 

32.5 

1.9 

100.0 

Danish 

7 

2.4 

49.8 

42.6 

5.1 

100.0 

Dutch 

3 

4.8 

53.1 

31.3 

4.8 

100.0 

English 

30 

3.2 

50.7 

38.5 

7.7 

100.0 

French 

11 

3.3 

54.7 

36.6 

5.4 

100.0 

German 

29 

4.4 

53.8 

37.2 

4.7 

100.0 

Hebrew,  German 

18 

5.4 

48.7 

38.8 

7.8 

100.0 

Hebrev^,  Russian 

30 

4.3 

63.1 

30.2 

3.3 

100.0 

Irish 

31 

3.5 

52.3 

37.4 

6.9 

100.0 

Italian,  North 

16 

5.8 

69.9 

22.7 

1.6 

100.0 

Italian,    South 

20 

7.8 

n:j 

18.7 

.8 

100.0 

Lithuanian 

7 

3.1 

75.3 

20.3 

1.4 

100.0 

Magyar 

5 

7.6 

62.6 

26.4 

8.4 

100.0 

Polish 

17 

5.8 

72.6 

20.0 

1.6 

100.0 

Portuguese 

5 

1.0 

79.6 

18.9 

.5 

100.0 

Russian 

7 

6.2 

67.8 

21.3 

4.7 

100.0 

♦Jenks — "The  Immigration  Problem,"  p.  306. 


TO  AMERICAN  DEMOCRACY  59 

The  report  of  the  Immigration  Commission  on  the 
school  attendance  of  over  2,000,000  children  of  immi- 
grant fathers  brought  out  the  fact  that  Americans  of 
Italian  blood  ranked  third  in  magnitude  with  a  percent- 
age of  6.4  of  the  whole,  being  outnumbered  by  the  Jews 
and  the  Germans.* 

IN  THE  HIGH  SCHOOLS— We  see  by  the  foregoing 
that  the  Southern  Italians  have  the  very  low  percentage 
of  .8%  of  their  children  in  the  High  Schools.  This  is 
accounted  for  in  large  part  by  the  fact  that  the  vast 
majority  of  the  descendants  of  Italian  immigrants  have 
not  yet  reached  the  average  age  of  pupils  eligible  to  enter 
High  School  i.  e.  14  years.  The  other  chief  contributory 
fact  is  the  very  low  economic  status  of  the  average 
Italian  family  that  makes  impossible  a  continued  stay 
of  any  great  length  for  their  children. 

IN  THE  PRIMARY  GRADES— In  the  primary  grades 
the  percentage  of  pupils  of  Italian  blood  attending 
jumps  to  72.7%,  a  figure  exceeded  but  by  two  other  ra- 
cial stocks  whose  numbers  in  proportion  are  incompar- 
ably smaller;  in  the  kindergarten  the  percentage  is  78  % 
and  is  the  highest.  The  only  lesson  these  figures  offer 
is  the  stressing  of  the  comparative  recency  of  Italian 
immigration  as  a  movement  "en  masse." 

RETARDATION  AT  LARGE— More  significant  than 
mere  numbers  of  school  attendance  though  is  the  con- 
dition of  affairs  regarding  retardation  or  the  percentage 
of  pupils  of  a  race  older  than  the  normal  age  for  that 
grade,  and  the  reason  for  that  abnormality.  It  was 
assumed  in  the  instance  of  the  study  made  throughout 
the  entire  country  by  the  Immigration  Commission  cov- 
ering thousands  of  cases  of  descendents  of  immigrants 
of  all  stocks,  that  seven  years  was  the  normal  age  for 
the  first  grade,  eleven  for  the  fifth,  and  fourteen  for 
the  eighth.  It  was  found  that  the  average  retardation 
for  all  foreign-born  races  was  36%,  a  scant  margin  above 
the  34.1%  representing  the  average  for  all  white  chil- 
dren of  native  stock. *''' 

Different  races,  tho,  show  marked  fluctuations  and  the 
type  under  surveillence  here  achieved  the  unenviable  pre- 

*  Reports  of  the  Immigration  Commission,  Vols.  29-33. 
**Jenks  and  Lauck,  "The  Immigration  Prpblem,"  p.  308. 


60  THE  ITALIAN  CONTRIBUTION 

eminence  with  48.6%  followed  closely  by  the  Poles  and 
French-Canadians  with  48.1%  and  43.1%  respectively. 
The  Finns  made  the  best  showing  with  but  27.7%  of  re- 
tardation. If  one  were  to  go  into  the  details  beyond 
the  data  disclosed,  he  would  get  some  interesting  in- 
formation.* A  study  of  46,846  pupils  of  the  types  above 
mentioned  was  made  and  marked  differences  were  found 
between  those  whose  foreign-born  fathers  could,  and 
those  who  could  not  speak  English.  In  the  case  of  the 
German  pupils  whose  fathers  spoke  English,  31.7%  were 
retarded;  of  those  whose  fathers  did  not,  40.6%  were 
retarded.f  The  Americans  of  Italian  extraction  showed 
59.2%  of  retardation  for  those  who  came  from  homes 
where  English  was  spoken  and  72.7%  where  it  was  not.J 

Similarly  with  respect  to  whether  or  not  English  is 
spoken  at  home ;  of  the  Germans  early  in  migration  to 
this  country,  30.4%  are  retarded  where  English  is 
spoken  and  37.4%  where  it  is  not ;  the  American  of  Ital- 
ian extraction  had  56%  of  retardation  where  English 
is  spoken  at  home  and  67.Z%  where  it  is  not.§ 

A  very  bad  showing  though  for  this  type  is  to  be  had 
when  we  consider  retardation  as  existing  between  those 
who  attend  school  regularly  and  those  who  do  not.  It 
was  shown  that  with  pupils  of  eight  years  or  more  who 
attended  school  three-fourths  or  more  of  the  time,  the 
degree  of  retardation  for  the  children  of  native-born 
whites  was  26.2%  ;  where  they  attended  less  than  three- 
fourths  of  the  time  this  percent  rose  to  43.9%.  Of  the 
Americans  of  Italian  extraction  the  percentage  of  those 
in  the  first  instance  was  found  to  be  56%,  and  in  the 
latter   85.6%.     Here   again   Jenks   adds   "the   fact   that 

*  In  extenuation  of  the  above  figures,  the  authors  making 
the  study  add  that  ahho  opinions  were  asked  of  the  teachers 
as  to  the  excuses  for  retardation,  the  answers  were  not  defi- 
nite enough  to  be  tabulated.  The  figures  show  tho,  that  in- 
ability of  the  father  to  speak  English  and  the  use  of  a  foreign 
language  at  home  are  very  important  factors.  Races  making 
up  the  "newer"  immigration  show  higher  percents  of  retarda- 
tion. Retardation  is  also  due  to  ill  health,  late  entrance  to 
school,  mental  defects,  etc. 

t  ibid.  p.  309. 

t  ibid.  p.  309. 

§  ibid.  p.  309. 


TO  AMERICAN  DEMOCRACY  61 

children  of  certain  races  show  a  greater  degree  of  re- 
tardation than  others  is  not  necessarily  a  sign  of  less 
mental  ability  but  rather  of  some  external  circumstances, 
that  in  another  generation  may  entirely  disappear." 

RETARDATION  IN  NEW  YORK  CITY— Touching 
on  conditions  in  New  York  City  the  findings  exhibited 
above  for  the  country  at  large  are  generally  substan- 
tiated. In  speaking  of  the  mentality  of  the  Italians  and 
particularly  of  the  Southern  Italians  from  whence  this 
large  percentage  of  illiteracy  and  of  retardation  is  de- 
rived Mangano  says  "The  Southern  Italian  is  illiterate 
but  not  unintelligent.  Northern  Italians  have  as  low  a 
percent  of  illiteracy  as  11.8  and  are  outranked  by  but 
four  other  nationalities  i.  e.  the  Scandinavians  with  A%, 
the  English  with  1.1%,  the  Irish  with  2.7%,  and  the  Ger- 
mans with  5.3%."  In  all  of  these  excepting  the  last, 
the  difficulty  of  mastering  a  new  language  as  exists  with 
the  Italian  does  not  obtain.  This  percent  of  11.8  is  but  a 
fraction  higher  than  the  average  of  the  illiteracy  of  the 
general  population  of  the  United  States  which  is  10%. 

In  New  York  City  the  average  daily  attendance  of 
pupils  in  the  public  schools  according  to  the  latest  avail- 
able reports  from  the  Supt.  of  Schools  is  shown  to  be 
721,136.  The  percentage  of  pupils  of  foreign-born  fa- 
thers was  71.5%  of  the  total  attendance.  Of  this  the 
Americans  of  Italian  extraction  represent  30.1%  or  ap- 
proximately 200,000  of  the  total  school-going  popula- 
tion of  this  city. 

Concerning  retardation  among  pupils  of  Italian  origin 
in  our  schools  here,  we  have  some  very  interesting  data. 
Dr.  Ayres  made  a  study  of  fifteen  nationalities  in  fifteen 
New  York  City  schools  and  took  20,000  records.  He 
found  the  American  of  Italian  extraction  to  lead  in  re- 
tardation, viz  :* 

Nationality  Percent  recorded 

German  16 

American    19 

Mixed    19 

Russian  23 

English 24 

Irish   29 

Italian    ^^ 

♦Ayres,  Leonard  P.  Laggards  in  Our  City  Schools.  Russell 
Sage  Foundation. 


62 


THE  ITALIAN  CONTRIBUTION 


Dr.  Ayres  adds  however,  by  way  of  comment  on  these 
figures  that  "opinions  may  differ  radically  as  to  the  sig- 
nificance of  these  figures."  The  conclusion  is  that  while 
the  nationality  factor  has  a  distinct  bearing  on  the  prob- 
lem of  retardation  and  elimination,  there  is  no  evidence 
that  these  problems  are  most  serious  in  those  cities  hav- 
ing the  largest  foreign  population. 

Dr.  Van  Denburg  who  also  studied  the  causes  of  the 
elimination  of  students  in  public  secondary  schools  of 
New  York  City  has  some  interesting  figures  regarding 
the  distributions  of  pupils  studying  there.  His  figures 
by  nationality  of  pupils  attending  the  High  Schools  of 
New  York  City  show  that  the  Italians  of  whom  there 
is  a  constantly  increasing  number  in  that  city,  send 
more  boys  than  girls  to  High  School.  The  ratio  is  ap- 
proximately three  boys  to  two  girls.  This  is  shown  in 
the  following  table,  viz : 

TOTAL  HIGH  SCHOOL  ATTENDANCE  ARRANGED  BY 
PRINCIPAL  COUNTRIES 


Parentage  of  Pupil 

Boys 

Girls 

Total 

American,  White 

4,666 

6,610 

11,276 

Russian,  Hebrew 

1,661 

1,354 

3,015 

German 

1,330 

1,443 

2,773 

Irish 

618 

1,043 

1,661 

German,  Hebrew 

624 

652 

1,276 

English 

323 

598 

921 

Italian,  North   and   South 

342 

197 

539 

Scotch 

140 

244 

384 

Polish,  Hebrew 

171 

165 

336 

Swedish 

101 

164 

265 

Roumanian,  Jew 

143 

110 

253 

Canadian,  English 

84 

131 

215 

American,  Negro 

78 

123 

201 

Danish 

47 

130 

177 

French 

67 

103 

170 

Montenegrin 

49 

76 

125 

Russian 

36 

87 

123 

Magyar 

67 

53 

120 

Bohemian 

51 

31 

82 

Spanish 

38 

34 

72 

Polish 

35 

31 

66 

Holland,   Dutch 

18 

23 

41 

Canadian,  French 

13 

25 

38 

Welsh 

7 

24 

31 

Roumanians 

13 

8 

21 

Austrians 

9 

11 

20 

Scattering  foreign 

66 

59 

125 

Unclassified  foreign  Hebrew 

666 

458 

1,124 

TOTAL 


11.463 


13.987 


25.460 


TO  AMERICAN  DEMOCRACY  63 

Comparing  the  percentage  of  population  in  New  York 
City  at  large  with  the  percentage  represented  in  the 
High  School,  Dr.  Van  Denburg  finds  the  Irish  most 
poorly  represented.  With  19%  of  the  population  they 
furnish  but  6.5%  of  the  total  High  School  registration. 
Next  come  the  Italians  making  up  6.4%  of  the  popula- 
tion and  furnishing  but  3.1%  of  the  High  School  pupils. 

GENERAL  POPULATION  VERSUS  HIGH  SCHOOL 
POPULATION* 

Countries  of  Origin  Numbers  Percentages 

High  School     General  High  School  General 
Population  Population  Population  Population 


United   States 

11,477 

907,351 

45.1 

26.4 

Germany 

4,049 

735,992 

15.9 

21.4 

Russia 

3,166 

240,805 

12.4 

7.0 

Ireland 

1,661 

649,302 

6.5 

18.9 

England 

921 

116,044 

3.6 

3.4 

Italy 

539 

217,920 

3.1 

6.4 

Poland 

392 

51,621 

1.5 

1.5 

Scotland 

384 

37,668 

1.5 

1.1 

Sweden 

265 

41,234 

1.0 

1.2 

Canada,  English 

215 

19,623 

.8 

.6 

Denmark 

177 

8,223 

.6 

2 

France 

170 

23,203 

.6 

.7 

Norway 

125 

16,746 

.5 

.5 

Canada,  French 

38 

3,899 

.1 

.1 

Wales 

31 

3,119 

.1 

.1 

Other  Countries 

1,942 

361,472 

7.6 

10.5 

TOTAL  25,452  3,434,222  100.0  100.0 

THE  PRESENT  NEED— When  the  Immigration 
Commission  made  its  report,  it  found  less  than  100  teach- 
ers of  Italian  blood  in  the  public  schools.  In  New  York 
City  there  were  17  teachers  of  parents  from  the  North 
of  Italy,  8  from  the  South  and  7  not  specified,  in  all  less 
than  .1%  of  the  total  number  of  teachers  of  foreign 
lineage  in  this  city.  Today,  according  to  Dr.  Vittorio 
Racca,  president  of  the  Italian  Teachers  Association  this 
mark  has  more  than  been  doubled.  Nevertheless  on  a 
pro-rata  scale,  or  compared  with  the  number  of  children 
of  Italian  origin  in  this  city,  the  one  great  deficiency 
with    respect    to   providing   an    incentive    necessary    to 

♦Van  Den  Burg,  Dr.  J.  K. — "Causes  of  Elimination  of  Stu- 
dents in  Public  Schools  (Secondary)"  p.  36. 


64  THE  ITALIAN  CONTRIBUTION 

raising  the  low  percentage  of  pupils  of  Italian  origin  in 
the  schools  of  this  city  is  the  lack  of  teachers  among 
their  own  kind.  If  there  were  a  large  well-knit  and 
actively  operating  corps  of  public  school  teachers  of  Ital- 
ian origin  interested  in  visiting  the  homes  and  families 
of  the  great  masses  of  Italian-speaking  people  in  this 
city,  the  great  stopping-off  place  between  the  public  and 
the  high  school  would  cease  to  exist. 


TO  AMERICAN  DEMOCRACY  65 

CHAPTER  VIII 
CITIZENSHIP 

OBSTACLES  TO  CITIZENSHIP— Ignorance  of  the 
language  is  perhaps  the  greatest  bar  to  citizenship.  With 
the  Itahan  another  factor  enters,  namely,  the  tendency 
to  return  to  Italy.  Fully  30%  of  these  immigrants  go 
back  to  the  homeland  after  they  have  accumulated  some 
"savings."  Taking  the  period  of  1905-1910  as  an  ex- 
ample, we  note  the  following  proportions  of  returning 
immigrants.* 

1905—31%  1908—34% 

1906—38%  1909—30% 

1907—62%  1910—42% 

Because  of  this  tendency  the  state  of  affairs  found  in 
1898  when  out  of  16,000  workmen  engaged  in  the  con- 
struction of  the  Erie  Canal  15,000  were  unnaturalized,  is 
not  surprising.**  This  is  not  the  whole  story  however. 
Fully  15%  who  returned  to  Italy  with  their  savings  are 
inevitably  found  among  those  who  come  to  America  the 
following  year,  viz : 

PREVIOUSLY     ADMITTED     ITALIAN     SPEAKING 

IMMIGRANTS— 1899-1910 

Number        In  United  States  previously 

People  Admitted  Number  Percent  admitted 

Italian,  North  372,668  56,738  15.2 

Italian,  South  1,911,933  262,508  13.7 

But  both  these  factors  are  absent  in  the  case  of  the 
offspring.  Many  of  these  individuals  do  not  speak  Ital- 
ian as  well  as  they  do  English,  and  a  few  speak  no  Ital- 
ian at  all.  The  majority,  not  having  known  Italy,  have 
no  desire  to  go  there  and  reside  permanently. 

RELATION  OF  IMMIGRANT  TO  NATIVE  VOTE— 
The  importance  of  immigrant  races  as  possible  voters  is 
greater  than  their  importance  in  proportion  to  the  popu- 
lation. This  is  so  because  males  come  in  greater  numbers 
than  do  females.  For  instance  10,000,000  foreign-born 
population  furnishes  5,000,000  males  of  voting  age,  but 

*  Stella,  Dr.  Antonio— "Assicurzione  Obbligatoria  Degli  Emi- 
granti  contro  la  Tuberculosi,"  p.  15. 
**New  York  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics,  1898,  p.  1155. 


66  THE  ITALIAN  CONTRIBUTION 

66,000,000  native  population  furnishes  only  16,000,000 
males  of  voting  age.  This  is  to  say  one-half  of  the  foreign 
born  and  only  one-quarter  of  the  native-born  are  po- 
tential voters.*  Of  the  foreign-born  population  two- 
thirds  have  either  become  citizens  or  have  declared  their 
intentions  in  1900.  Probably  the  proportion  of  native- 
white  who  did  not  vote  was  15%  of  the  total  number 
while  the  percentage  of  the  foreign-born  who  did  not 
was  over  40%.**  This  last  proportion  however  varies 
with  different  races.  Commons  thinks  that  it  is  not  so 
much  a  difference  in  willingness  as  it  is  a  difference  in 
appreciation.  To  be  naturalized  one  must  live  in  the 
country  five  years.  The  census  authorities  found  that 
whereas  40%  of  those  who  had  been  here  six  to  nine 
years  have  not  declared  their  intentions  of  becoming 
citizens,  only  7%  of  those  who  had  been  here  twenty 
years  had  retained  allegiance  to  their  former  govern- 
ment. 

The  "older  immigration"  represented  by  the  German 
and  Irish  stocks  have  greater  political  significance  be- 
cause of  this  when  compared  with  the  "newer  immigra- 
tion," the  Italians,  Slavs,  and  Russian  Jews.  While  but 
7  to  13%  of  the  foreign  immigration  are  aliens,  from 
35  to  60%  of  the  immigration  from  Southern  Europe  are 
aliens  and  therefore  have  no  influence  through  the  fran- 
chise. Time  however  will  reduce  this  disparity  very  ap- 
preciably. The  percentage  of  Italians  that  are  citizens 
as  found  by  the  Immigration  Commission  in  a  represent- 
ative investigation  covering  more  than  8000  cases  is : 

NUMBER  PERCENT 

Race  No.  reporting    Fully  First  Fully         First 

complete  data  Naturalized  Papers  Naturalized  Papers 
Italian,  North         4,069  1,028  834  25.3  20.5 

Italian,    South        3,811  597  547  15.7  14.4 

This  percentage  of  25.3  true  in  the  case  of  the  North- 
ern Italian  surpassed  the  percentages  found  in  this  in- 
vestigation for  other  numerous  immigrants  from  South 
Eastern  Europe.  The  Russian  Hebrew  had  but  22.7%  ; 
the   Lithuanian  21.1%;   the    Poles    19%;    the    Russian 

*  Commons — "Races  and  Immigrants  in  America,"  p.  191. 

**  "Twelfth  Census  Abstract,"  p.  18. 


TO  AMERICAN  DEMOCRACY  67 

15.1%;  the  Slovak  12.1%.  Further  investigations  have 
shown  that  111,696  out  of  a  total  of  145,333  persons  born 
in  Italy  were  naturalized  in  1900. 

CITIZENSHIP  STATUS  IN  NEW  YORK  CITY— In 
speaking  of  the  contribution  to  citizenship  that  the  Ital- 
ian makes  to  America,  Roberts  says,  "The  Italians  are 
old  at  the  game  of  politics.  In  the  seventeenth  and  the 
eighteenth  centuries  they  furnished  political  leaders  to 
every  country  in  Europe."*  Lord  on  the  same  subject 
says,  "The  innate  bent  for  politics  of  the  Italian  is 
strongly  marked  and  nowhere  is  this  more  plainly  shown 
than  in  America  in  spite  of  the  common  handicaps  of  un- 
familiarity  with  our  language  and  the  absorbing  de- 
mands of  the  struggle  to  earn  a  living.  He  is  quick  to 
comprehend  the  use  and  possible  force  of  his  ballot  here, 
and  is  eager  to  become  naturalized.  This  is  signally 
shown  in  the  extraordinary  percentage  of  naturalized 
Italians  in  comparison  with  the  total  number  of  Italians 
in  New  York  City.  The  carefully  prepared  records  of 
the  Commission  established  by  the  Italian  Chamber  of 
Commerce  showed  that  191,289  of  the  225,026  persons  of 
Italian  parentage  then  living  in  the  city  were  either  born 
or  naturalized  Americans  comprehending  83.4%  of  the 
total  Italian  population."** 

Today  this  percentage  is  even  higher  for  approxi- 
mately 200,000  Italians  of  those  who  were  unnaturalized 
have  returned  to  Italy  to  fight.  These  represent  a  lot 
almost  hand-picked  from  the  unnaturalized  group  so 
that  it  would  not  be  greatly  out  of  the  way  if  we  said 
that  perhaps  of  all  the  immigrant  groups  representing 
the  "newer  immigration"  the  greatest  percentage  of 
naturalized  citizens  belongs  to  the  Italian  group. 

Notwithstanding  the  frequent  disparaging  remarks 
made  about  the  "Italian  vote  being  a  joke"  by  city  poli- 
ticians, or  past  criticism  that  the  Italian  has  a  constitu- 
tional defection  regarding  the  qualities  of  political  ge- 
nius, we  have  testimony  of  two  men  who  are  in  a  posi- 
tion to  know,  pointing  to  the  contrary.     George  B.  Mc- 

*  Roberts,  Peter — "The  Newer  Immigration,"  p.  256. 
**  Lord,  Trenor   and   Barrows — "The   Italian   in  America,"  p. 
223-224. 


68  THE  ITALIAN  CONTRIBUTION 

Qellan  for  seven  years  Mayor  of  New  York  City  and 
whose  last  (1909)  election  could  have  been  swung  one 
way  or  the  other  according  as  the  Italian  vote  was  cast 
says,  "Already  we  are  beginning  to  feel  the  good  effect 
of  our  schools  upon  our  foreign-born  population.  Take 
the  Italian  .  .  .  the  number  of  them  that  are  taking  out 
citizenship  papers  is  increasing  every  year.  They  make 
good  citizens."  The  present  incumbent  of  this  office 
says,  "The  Italians  in  this  city  are  among  our  best  citi- 
zens and  are  held  in  great  respect."* 

THE  PLACE  OF  THE  WOMAN  OF  ITALIAN 
BLOOD — There  is  at  present  no  way  of  telling  how  the 
girl  or  woman  of  Italian  blood  is  going  to  take  to  her 
newly  acquired  citizenship  and  right  to  vote.  As  Dr. 
Van  Denburg  has  shown,  the  Italian  sends  his  boys  to 
the  city's  High  Schools  in  the  ratio  of  three  to  every 
one  girl  that  attends.  The  strong  family  ties  of  the 
Italian  home  are  against  and  look  with  disfavor  upon 
any  and  all  worldly  activities  tending  to  break  these 
bonds.  Nevertheless  Miss  Elvira  Barra,  Italian  District 
Leader  in  the  Little  Italy  Harlem  Colony,  from  her  ac- 
tual experience  recently  said,  "These  people  have 
changed — the  older  woman  who  at  first  shrugged  her 
shoulders  at  the  thought  of  voting  has  become  enthu- 
siastic. I  have  reached  the  mothers  through  the  younger 
generation  who  can  read  and  write. "f  This  is  one  of 
the  new  and  fertile  fields  yet  unexplored  as  it  is  even 
with  many  men.  As  Prof.  Steiner  says,  "Perhaps  the 
greatest  problem  still  to  be  solved  is  how  to  interpret 
the  one  supreme  gift  which  most  men  never  possessed 
— the  right  of  citizenship."** 

DIFFJERENCES  BETWEEN  ITALY  AND  AMER- 
ICA— In  passing  it  is  well  to  make  mention  of  the  dif- 
ferent attitude  regarding  the  matter  of  citizenship  that 
exists  between  the  two  governments — Italy  and  Amer- 
ica. Italy  holds  that  the  children  of  any  subject  no  mat- 
ter where  these  children  are  born,  take  the  status  of  the 

♦Letter  from  Mayor  John  F.  Hylan  to  F.  P.  Buonora,  Sept. 
10,  1918. 
tNew  York   Evening  Telegram — Sept.  8,   1918. 
**  Steiner,  E.  A.— "The  Immigrant  Tide,"  p.  199. 


TO  AMERICAN  DEMOCRACY  69 

parent.  The  United  States  holds  that  the  individual  de- 
cides this  for  himself  and  that  the  place  of  birth  is  a 
factor.  Speaking  for  the  people  themselves  it  is  safe 
to  say  that  the  majority  of  Italians  come  here  to 
stay  and  willingly  take  on  the  obligations  in  order  to 
exercise  the  privilege  of  American  citizenship.  A  con- 
crete instance  of  the  way  that  Americans  of  Italian  ex- 
traction and  naturalized  Americans  from  Italy  have 
lived  up  to  these  obligations  is  shown  in  the  present  war. 
"20%  or  70,000  of  the  total  voluntary  enlistments  around 
Boston  at  the  beginning  of  the  war  were  of  Italian 
blood."*  The  American  of  Italian  extraction  is  an  Amer- 
ican and  considers  himself  such.  The  difficulty  that  arises 
in  relation  to  Italy  is  one  of  long  standing  and  apparently 
due  to  the  rigidity  of  the  Italian  constitution.  In  this 
instance  it  is  illuminating  to  quote  from  a  speech  of  the 
former  Italian  Foreign  Aflfairs  Minister  Senator  Tom- 
maso  Tittoni  given  in  the  Chamber  of  Deputies  at  the 
March  3rd,  1905  sitting: 

"practically,  from  the  Italian  point  of  view,  the 
question  (naturalization)  presents  itself  as  follows : 
our  Civil  Code  establishes  at  Article  4  that  the  son 
of  a  father  who  is  an  Italian  citizen  is  himself  an 
Italian  citizen,  and  at  Article  II  it  declares  that, 
whoever  has  obtained  naturalization  in  a  foreign 
land  loses  his  Italian  citizenship.  Therefore  the 
Italian  subject  who  has  fixed  his  residence  in  the 
United  States  finds  himself  confronted  with  this 
alternative :  either  to  remain  faithful  to  his  nation- 
ality of  origin  and  renounce  those  political  and  ad- 
ministrative rights  which,  in  the  great  centers  of 
emigration,  would  be  the  most  efficient  means  of 
influence  and  protection  of  his  interests ;  or  else  to 
accept  the  nationality  of  the  country  he  resides  in, 
losing  de  jure  and  de  facto  his  Italian  citizenship. 
"...  inasmuch  as  regards  the  avoiding  of  pos- 
sible conflict  negotiations  have  been  opened  with 
the  United  States  of  America  with  the  purpose  of 
endeavouring  to  regulate  by  fixed  rules  all  those 

♦Prof.   James    Geddes,   Jr.,    From    his    contribution    to    the 
Symposium,  p.  272, 


70  THE  ITALIAN  CONTRIBUTION 

cases  which  could  give  occasion  to  such  conflict. 
After  having  reached  a  certain  point,  however,  it 
has  been  impossible  to  proceed  with  these  negotia- 
tions on  account  of  the  manifest  reluctance  of  the 

United  States.     In  order  to  satisfy  Senator  

aspirations  on  the  subject  of  naturalization  it  would 
be  necessary  to  modify  our  Civil  Code.   It  is  a  grave 
and  arduous  question  upon  which  I  can  not  commit 
myself;  but  since  it  has  been  so  often  raised  I  will 
have  it  examined  by  a  Commission  of  Jurists  and 
Sociologists  acting  in  colleague  with  the  Minister 
of  Grace  and  Justice."* 
This  matter  still  remains  to-day  as  it  was  left  then  by 
the   Italian   Foreign   Minister   with   the   result   that   no 
American  of  Italian  extraction  may  go  to  Italy  except- 
ing that  his  father  has  been  naturalized  before  his  birth, 
without  fear  of  being  taken  up  as  an   Italian  subject. 
In   this   matter   of   citizenship   it   is    coming   to   be    a 
great    source    of    racial   pride   and   loyalty   among   the 
Italians  and  the  Jews   as  well  as  with  other   races  to 
place  thetnselves  on  an  equality  with  those  who  assume 
superiority  over  new-comers.     They  wish  to  escape  the 
contempt  with  which  the  ignorant  treat  foreigners.     As 
Woods  puts  this  "they  crave  the  full  round  of  American 
experience  .  .  .  soon  they  realize  that  their  children  are 
to  be  Americans  and  this  makes  American  citizenship 
more  clearly  their  own  destiny  .  .  .  the  word  REPUB- 
LICAN is  one  that  the  Italian  is  familiar  with  and  it  has 
inspiring  associations  for  him.     They  make  good  polit- 
ical workers.     They  organize  effectively."** 

*  Senator  Tittoni  Tommaso,  Italy's  Foreign  and  Colonial 
Policy  (Memorial  Volume  dedicated  to  Rt.  Hon.  A.  Balfour, 
translated  by  Baron  Bernardo  Quaranta  di  San  Severino, 
p.  168-9. 

**  Woods,  R.  A. — "Americans  in  Process,"  p.  138. 


TO  AMERICAN  DEMOCRACY  71 

CHAPTER  IX. 
PHILANTROPHY  AND  SOCIAL  WELFARE 

INTRODUCTION— It  has  been  found  that  there  are 
two  periods  when  the  immigrant  is  most  in  need  of  re- 
lief. The  first  occurs  when  he  has  landed  and  follows 
from  the  fact  that  he  has  a  slender  store  of  savings  upon 
which  to  depend.  Among  the  Jews  in  New  York  City 
the  United  Hebrew  Charities  Society  office  stated  that 
7%  of  the  total  Jewish  immigration  found  it  necessary 
to  apply  for  relief  within  one  year.  According  to  the 
reports  of  the  two  chief  agencies  in  New  York  City  that 
offer  relief  to  Italian  immigrants  we  find  that  the  num- 
bers run  into  the  thousands.  The  Italica  Gens  took  care 
of  27,861  cases  during  a  period  of  eight  years  and  the 
San  Raffaele  almost  a  thousand  every  year. 

In  New  York  City  during  the  year  1917  for  the  Italian 
element  117  men  and  23  women  and  no  children  under 
16  years  of  age  applied  for  relief ;  in  1916  (a  year  of  in- 
dustrial depression)  there  were  10,035  men,  187  women 
and  no  children.  Roughly  speaking  the  average  for 
persons  of  Italian  blood  was  a  little  over  1%  of  the  total 
number  of  persons  who  applied  to  the  Municipal  Lodg- 
ing House  for  relief.*  Private  agencies  of  relief  cor- 
roborate this  low  finding  of  approximately  1%.** 

Relief  of  this  sort  however,  is  temporary,  for  unless 
the  immigrant  becomes  self-supporting  soon,  the  law 
makes  him  liable  to  deportation.  The  other  occasion 
when  such  a  one  is  most  liable  to  need  assistance  is  after 
he  has  spent  some  years  in  this  country.  He  has  then 
exhausted  his  native  fund  of  physical  vigor  and  lost  his 
former  elasticity  of  youth  and  so  becomes  unable  to 
struggle  against  those  who  are  fit  and  who  adapt  them- 
selves into  our  industrial  system. 

Individuals  of  this  sort  represent  a  chronic  state  of 

♦From  original  data  furnished  by  the  Secretary  of  the  De- 
partment of  Charities. 

**Wm.  L.  Butcher,  Supt.  Brace  Memorial  Home,  New  York 
City. 


n  THE  ITALIAN  CONTRIBUTION 

dependency  which  naturally  affects  their  children.  It 
has  been  found  that  of  all  the  foreign-born  heads  in 
cases  cared  for  by  charity  organization  societies  38% 
had  been  in  the  United  States  twenty  years  or  more  and 
70.7%  ten  years.* 

The  percentage  of  cases  reported  by  the  Charity  Or- 
ganization Society  to  the  Immigration  Commission  for 
the  country  showed  the  North  Italian  to  have  made  the 
best  showing  with  a  percentage  of  but  25.6%.**  Like 
the  Jew,  the  Italian  sees  to  it  that  he  does  not  tax  un- 
duly the  state  into  which  he  migrates. 

DEPENDENCY— With  respect  to  the  causes  of  de- 
pendency among  Italians  it  is  interesting  to  compare 
their  status  with  other  nationahties  if 

Cause  Italian  Irish  English  German  Jews 
Neglect  or  bad  habits 

of   breadwinner  8.7        20.9        14.0        15.7        12.6 

Lack  of  employment  67.8        34.8        63.3        58.1 

In  the  first  instance  the  Italians  show  up  best;  in  the 
latter  there  is  but  a  slight  preponderence  in  their  dis- 
favor due  chiefly  to  the  fact  that  they  represent  the 
"newer  immigration." 

The  American  of  Italian  extraction  comes  from  a 
home  that  knows  little  of  what  it  is  to  be  dependent 
upon  others.  Yet  this  can  scarcely  be  said  to  be  the 
common  impression  of  most  people.  Too  often  the  Ital- 
ian is  accused  of  being  a  characteristic  beggar.  Riis 
in  "How  the  Other  Half  Lives"  said  on  this  point,  "It 
is  curious  to  find  preconceived  notions  quite  upset  in  a 
review  of  the  nationalities  that  go  to  make  up  our  squad 
of  street  beggars.  The  Irish  lead  off  the  list  with  15% 
and  the  native  American  is  only  a  little  way  behind  him 
with  12%,  while  the  Italian  has  less  than  2%.  The  Ger- 
mans constitute  8%."  The  analysis  of  the  Bureau  of 
Immigration  confirms  this.  The  Irish  in  the  charitable 
institutions  of  the  country  compose  30%  ;  the  Germans 
19%  ;  the  English  8.5%,  while  the  Hebrew  and  the  Ital- 
ians both  have  8%. 

♦"Paupers  in  Almhouses,"  p.   101. 
**  Fairchild — "Immigration,"  p.  322. 
t  Associated  Charities  of  Boston — 23rd  Annual  Report. 


TO  AMERICAN  DEMOCRACY  73 

Other  authorities  follow  the  same  strain,  viz:  "The 
variation  in  the  number  of  Italians  applying  for  relief 
is  interesting.  54  families  came  to  us  in  1891  and  only 
69  last  year  though  the  Italian  population  had  increased 
15,000."*  In  New  York  State  the  data  submitted  in  the 
35th  Annual  Report  of  the  State  Board  of  Charities  by 
the  Hon.  John  W.  Keller,  President  of  the  Department 
of  Public  Charities  for  New  York  City,  contained  the 
following  tables : 

TABLE  A 
(Showing  nativity  of  persons  admitted   to   almshouses) 


Countries 

Male                Female 

Total 

United  States 

355                      199 

554 

Ireland 

808                     809 

1,617 

England  and  Wales 

111                       87 

198 

Scotland 

25                        14 

39 

France 

19                         2 

21 

Germany 

290                       84 

374 

Norway,  Denmark  and  Sweden    22                          6 

28 

Italy 

15                        4 

19 

Other  Countries 

50                       36 

86 

TOTAL 

1,695                   1,241 
TABLE  B 

2,936 

(Nativity   of   those 

admitted   to   incurable    hospitals) 

Countries 

Male           Female 

Total 

United  States 

7                     4 

11 

Ireland 

5                    6 

11 

England 

1                    1 

2 

Poland 

1 

1 

Germany 

4 

4 

Italy 

1 

1 

TOTAL  17  13  30 

TABLE  C 
(Nativity  of  those   admitted  to  blind  asylums) 

Countries                                         Male  Female           Total 

United  States                                        45  4                     49 

Ireland                                                     36  3                     39 

England                                                    3  3 

Germany                                                   4  15 

Italy                                                           1  _1 

TOTAL  89  8  97 

♦Associated  Charities  of  Boston— 23rd  Annual  Report. 


74  THE  ITALIAN  CONTRIBUTION 

Other  data  available  regarding  the  Italians  in  New 
York  City  are  the  "statistics  for  a  representative  year 
showing  that  out  of  every  28,000  Italians  in  the  city  of 
New  York  there  was  only  one  in  the  almshouses  on 
Blackwells  Island;  while  out  of  every  28,000  Irish  there 
were  140."*  Mr.  James  Forbes,  Chief  of  the  Mendi- 
cancy Department  of  the  Charity  Organization  Society 
says  that  he  has  never  seen  or  heard  of  an  Italian  tramp. 
The  fact  that  for  actual  dependency  this  strain  repre- 
sents but  one  percent  of  the  city's  pauper  population  is 
the  other  side  of  the  almost  universal  recognition  of  his 
industry  and  thrift. 

DELINQUENCY — The  subject  of  crime  in  discussing 
newer  types  in  our  population  is  often  connected  with 
the  problem  of  the  pauper.  The  only  study  that  any 
court  of  record  in  the  United  States  ever  made  with 
race  differences  serving  as  a  basis  was  in  New  York 
City.  In  1909  the  Court  of  Special  Sessions  upon  the 
instigation  of  the  Immigration  Commission  investigated 
over  2200  cases  that  came  before  it  and  demonstrated  the 
futility  of  attempting  to  prove  any  relation  between  im- 
migration and  crime.  Their  conclusions  were  that  no 
satisfactory  answer  could  be  found  to  the  questions:  (1) 
Is  the  volume  of  crime  in  the  United  States  augfmented 
by  the  presence  of  the  immigrant  and  his  offspring?  and 
(2)  if  immigrants  increase  crime,  what  races  are  re- 
sponsible for  such  increase?  Not  only  did  this  investi- 
gation conducted  among  immigrants  and  their  offspring 
in  New  York  City  find  no  basis  for  the  common  notion 
that  the  Italian  race  furnishes  the  highest  percentage  of 
those  filling  our  jails  but  in  the  words  of  the  committee 
making  the  investigation  "immigrants  are  less  prone  to 
commit  crime  than  the  native  American."**  Changes, 
however,  are  noticed  in  the  character  of  crimes  com- 
mitted. In  the  matter  of  crimes  committed  against  the 
person  the  Italians  lead  but  as  is  usual  with  such  crime 
statistics  for  the  whole  United  States,  no  differentiation 
is  made  between  the  Italian  proper,  who  has  come  here 

*  Ed.  by  Willard  Price— World  Outlook,  Oct.  1917. 

**  Report  of  Immigration  Commission — Immigration  and 
Crime  Abst. 


TO  AMERICAN  DEMOCRACY  75 

and  his  offspring,  the  American  of  Italian  extraction 
who  was  born  here.  As  it  is  but  three  percent  of  crimes 
committed  by  Itahans  for  murder  are  convictions.* 

This  whole  question  of  crime  among  both  the  Italian 
immigrant  and  his  descendants  needs  more  careful  study 
than  has  been  accorded  in  the  past.**  Some  time  in 
the  future  when  we  know  the  Italian  nature  better,  we 
will  appreciate  what  Dr.  Prelini,  Professor  of  Engineer- 
ing in  Manhattan  College  has  in  mind  when  he  says, 
"The  contribution  of  the  Italian  toward  American  de- 
mocracy are  sincerity  of  purpose,  and  the  greatest  re- 
spect for  justice,  which  are  the  essentials  of  true  de- 
mocracy; they  hate  hypocrisy;  the  respect  for  justice  is 
so  deeply  rooted  in  the  Italian  mind  that  many  crimes 
are  committed  to  redress  suffered  wrongs.  Under  this 
point  of  view  even  the  crimes  committed  indicate  a  mis- 
applied respect  for  justice  among  the  lower  classes  of 
Italians."*** 

An  interesting  and  instructive  attempt  has  been  made 
by  Lord,  Trenor  and  Barrows  to  set  in  its  true  light  the 
apparently  mistaken  conception  that  some  people  have 
with  respect  to  the  so-called  innate  trait  of  criminality 
among  Italians.  These  authors  go  on  to  say,  "A  careful 
examination  of  police  records  secured  from  every  city 
in  this  country  where  nationalities  are  distributed  in  the 

*  Mangano,  Antonio,  Sons  of  Italy,  p.  122. 

**  The  fact  that  Prof.  Bailey  in  a  study  of  juvenile  delin- 
quency in  New  Haven  found  the  American  of  Italian  extraction 
to  constitute  47.7%  of  the  total  number  arraigned  though  ac- 
cording to  the  1910  census  only  15.7%  of  the  total  number  of 
the  native-born  population  of  foreign  parentage  were  of  this 
nationality  carries  but  little  weight.  New  Haven  has  a  popu- 
lation of  but  133,605  (1910  census)  and  in  no  wise  can  be  con- 
strued as  constituting  an  example  that  is  indicative  of  a  con- 
dition that  is  general..  It  is  interesting  to  note  in  this  con- 
nection that  this  same  investigation  was  extended  to  New 
Britain,  a  typical  manufacturing  town  with  a  population  of 
approximately  50,000  and  of  the  total  number  of  native-born 
delinquents  of  foreign  extraction  that  appeared  before  the 
courts  of  this  state,  not  one  was  of  Italian  blood.  Bailey,  Wm. 
B. — "Children  Before  the  Courts  of  Connecticut."  Children's 
Bureau,  Department  of  Labor.  Bureau  Publication  No.  43, 
p.  IZ. 

***  Contribution  to  symposium,  infra  Chapter  25. 


1^  THE  ITALIAN  CONTRIBUTION 

records  of  arrest  does  not  justify  the  assumption  that 
the  criminal  tendencies  of  the  Italians  exceed  the  aver- 
age of  the  foreign  or  of  the  native  population.  It  must 
be  born  in  mind  that  no  comparison  is  valid  which  does 
not  take  into  account  the  factor  of  age  and  relative  pro- 
portion of  males  to  females.  Yet  in  Boston,  Providence 
and  even  in  other  cities  attracting  the  greater  part  of 
the  Italian  immigration  the  percentage  of  arrests  of 
Italian  foreign-born  is  less  than  the  average  for  the 
total  foreign-born,"  viz : 

COMPARISON    OF   PERCENTAGES    OF   ARRESTS    BE- 
TWEEN  ITALIAN  AND   OTHER   NATIONALITIES* 


o 

c 

2  -S 

.bflrt 

•59 

.     0    CO 

ci  0 

v.. 

(U  en 

talian 
oreigr 
lOpula 

+J    -4-> 

Z.  ^ 

-^"S 

^iS 

•^  -^ 

1— (--M      » 

.2 

So 

E2a 

7^  rt 

%of 
total 
born 

Boston 

197,129 

19,952 

13,738 

1,219 

7.0 

6.1 

Providence 

55,855 

3,902 

6,252 

422 

11.02 

10.8 

It  will  be  noted,  these  authors  eo  on  to  sav.  that  in 
both  the  cities  cited  the  record  of  arrests  is  for  1903,  or 
three  years  later  than  the  census  population  count.  The 
Italian  influx  has  raised  materially  the  percentage  of 
total  Italian  born,  hence  the  strictly  correct  comparison 
would  be  more  notably  to  their  advantage.  But  since 
1904  the  year  when  Lord  wrote,  fully  a  million  Italian 
immigrants  have  entered  and  this  serves  to  push  still 
further  down  the  already  low  percentage.  These  au- 
thors say  that  in  Paterson  and  other  cities  in  New  Jersey 
containing  a  considerable  proportion  of  Italians  like 
Newark,  Elizabeth,  etc.,  the  comparison  is  still  more 
favorable  on  the  side  of  the  Italians. 

These  local  figures  are  corroborated  by  those  for  the 
country  at  large.  The  Italian  strain  in  1910  while  con- 
stituting 10.1%  or  the  second  largest  racial  group  of 
foreign  born  population  furnished  only  7.1%  of  the  total 

♦Prepared  from  tables  in  "The  Italian  in  America"  by  Lord, 
Trenor  and  Barrows. 


TO  AMERICAN  DEMOCRACY  77 

number  of  foreign-born  prisoners  and  juvenile  delin- 
quents. The  most  frequent  offenders  were  of  Irish  ex- 
traction making  up  26.9%  of  the  total  and  with  a  ratio 
of  commitments  in  proportion  to  their  numbers  twice 
as  frequent  as  the  Italians.  Of  the  seventeen  nation- 
alities studied  on  the  basis  of  commitments  the  Italians 
took  the  astonishingly  high  rank  (considering  common 
notions)  of  being  twelfth  down  from  the  top  or  worst 
position.  The  countries  listed  according  to  highest  ra- 
tios are: 

RANK  OF  COUNTRY  WITH  RESPECT  TO  THE  RATIO* 
OF  COMMITMENTS** 

Mexico  1 

Ireland  2 

Scotland    3 

Austria    4 

England    &  Wales    5 

Canada,  English  6 

Sweden   7 

Norway  8 

Canada,  French  9 

France    10 

Poland    11 

ITALY    12 

Russia    13 

Hungary  14 

Denmark    15 

Germany    16 

Switzerland    17 

When  we  come  to  consider  the  nature  of  offense  com- 
mitted we  come  to  what  has  always  been  a  knotty  prob- 
lem. Here  again  the  figures  offered  are  for  the  entire 
country.  We  have  what  in  the  face  of  things  looks  like 
a  blasting  indictment  because  in  crimes  committed 
against  the  person  i.  e.  assault,  the  Italian  strain  shows 
up  at  the  top  with  the  highest  rate  of  any.  The  figures 
are: 

*  The  ratio  referred  to  is  the  number  of  foreign  born  white 
prisoners  and  juvenile  delinquents  committed  in  1910  per  100,000 
white  population  born  in  the  same  country. 

**  Report  on  Prisoners  and  Juvenile  Delinquents.  Bureau 
of  Census  1919,  p.  128. 


78  THE  ITALIAN  CONTRIBUTION 

PRISONERS  AND  JUVENILE  DELINQUENTS  COMMITTED 

FOR  ASSAULT* 

1910 

Nationality  Number  Percentage  Ratio§  of 

Commitment 

ITALY  903  12.8  67.2 

Hungary  243  10.6  49.0 

Poland  487  9.7  51.9 

Austria  595  8.6  70.4 

Russia  433  7.7  36.6 

Other  Countries  331  6.6  44.3 

One  must  be  cautious  however  in  interpreting  the  sig- 
nificance of  such  figures  as  the  above.  The  figures  cited 
by  the  census  authorities  are  based  on  the  total  number  of 
offenders  and  not  on  the  total  population,  or  to  use  the  words 
of  Dr.  Joseph  A.  Hill,  Expert  Special  Agent,  who  pre- 
pared this  report,  "The  figures  above  do  not  necessarily 
mean  that  in  proportion  to  their  numbers  in  the  total 
population  the  Italians  are  committed  for  assault  more 
frequently  than  other  nationalities."** 

In  New  York  City  however,  the  figures  Lord  was  able 
to  collect  showed  slightly  to  their  disadvantage  as  was 
to  be  expected,  viz  :*** 

Total    foreign -born    population 1,270,080 

Total  born   in   Italy  145,433 

Italian  percentage  of  total  foreign-born  population 11.5% 

Total  arrests  for  foreign-born  59,077 

Total  arrests  of  Italian  nationality  7,307 

Percentage  of  arrests  of  Italian  nationality 12.3% 

In  further  explanation  of  the  above  the  authors  point 
out  that  there  is  at  the  outset  a  deduction  to  be  made 
for  discharges  and  acquittals ;  that  the  arrests  made  are 
largely  for  breaches  of  city  ordinances  such  as  peddling 
without  a  license,  etc. 

Lord  shows  the   injustice  in  past  attempts  operating 

*  Compiled  from  tables  in  "Report  on  Prisoners  and  Juvenile 
Delinquents."  Bureau  of  Census,  1919,  pp.  130-131. 

§  Number  committed  per  100,000  white  population  born  in 
the  same  country. 

**  Compiled  from  tables  in  "Report  on  Prisoners  and  Juve- 
nile Delinquents."  Bureau  of  Census,  1919,  p.  130. 

***  Lord,  Trenor  and  Barrows— "The  Italian  in  America." 


TO  AMERICAN  DEMOCRACY  79 

to  jack  up  the  figures  showing  Italian  criminality  to  be 
higher  than  the  average  through  the  device  of  dropping 
from  the  record  all  crimes  resulting  from  drunkenness. 
Such  an  instance  is  the  following:  A  report  had  been 
prepared  by  the  Immigration  Restriction  League  based 
upon  the  criminal  record  of  Italians  in  Massachusetts. 
Now  Massachusetts  is  the  one  state  that  has  made  the 
most  thoro  examination  of  the  whole  question  of  in- 
temperance as  related  to  crime,  and  the  report  showed 
that  about  87%  of  all  crimes  committed  in  Massachusetts 
grow  out  of  intemperance  of  some  form.  The  Italian 
population  of  Boston  and  of  Massachusetts  show  a 
higher  percentage  of  arrests  than  all  the  races  from 
Northern  Europe ;  but  while  three  in  any  one  hundred 
cases  of  the  Northern  races  including  the  Scotch-Irish, 
the  English,  and  the  Germans  were  arrested  for  intem- 
perance, only  three  in  one  thousand  cases  of  the  Italians 
were  so  arraigned.  In  fact,  from  the  investigation  made 
by  the  Committee  of  Fifty  of  nearly  30,000  cases  in  the 
records  of  Organized  Charity,  the  Italians  had  the  re- 
markably low  percentage  of  3.5,  while  the  Irish  and  the 
English  showed  25%,  Americans  24%,  and  the  Ger- 
mans 24%.* 

The  following  excerpt  taken  from  the  Joliette  Prison 
Post,  a  paper  edited  by  prisoners  of  the  Illinois  State 
Penitentiary  will  attest  to  the  universal  rather  than  the 
national  trait  of  wrong-doing  among  human  individuals, 
viz: 

"One  of  the  most  popular  but  highly  erroneous  be- 
liefs of  the  day  is  that  illiteracy  and  crime  are 
closely  related.  It  is  customary  to  plead  for  a 
wrongdoer  that  he  did  not  enjoy  the  advantage  of 
an  education  when  young.  Quite  recently  a  survey 
was  made  of  the  prisoners  in  the  State  Penitentiary 
which  served  to  upset  some  of  these  cherished  no- 
tions." 

"In  a  total  population  of  1886,  it  was  found  that 
1181  had  received  a  major  portion  of  an  elementary 
education  and  only  309  were  illiterate.    There  were 

♦Koren.  John— "Economic  Aspects  of; the  Liquor  Problem/' 


80  THE  ITALIAN  CONTRIBUTION 

29  University  graduates  on  the  roll,  and  106  High 
School  graduates.  The  survey  was  made  by  a  man 
convicted  of  forgery  and  educated  at  the  Lake  For- 
est College."* 

.The  lesson  from  these  and  other  figures  is  not  diffi- 
cult to  read.  Prof.  Howard  writing  on  this  question 
says : 

''Among  the  foreign-born  residents  of  the  United 
States,  the  relative  percentage  of  felonies  due  to  in- 
temperance for  each  nationality  stands  in  direct 
ratio  to  the  drinking  habits  of  such  nationality.  The 
hardest  drinking  peoples  show  the  highest  relative  per- 
centages of  heinous  crimes  induced  by  alcohol. '''\ 

When  we  consider  the  exceptionally  low  percentage 
of  alcoholism  among  the  Italian-speaking  population  this 
last  statement  has  increased  significance.  Miss  Clag- 
horn's  intensive  studies  of  Italians  in  New  York  City 
leads  her  to  think  that  "The  Italian  immigrant  is  very 
little  given  to  drink."  This  statement  is  frequently  made 
and  universally  accepted.  If  one  were  to  enter  almost 
any  home  in  New  York  City  where  Italian  is  spoken, 
he  would  be  sure  to  meet  with  the  usage  of  wine.  Ital- 
ian families  use  wine  as  a  food  and  have  through  cen- 
turies so  regulated  their  diet  and  manner  of  living  with 
respect  to  it  that  abuses  of  it  are  rarely  encountered. 

The  writer  is  able  to  present  for  the  first  time  the 
actual  statistics  relating  to  the  frequency  of  the  phe- 
nomenon of  drunkenness  among  Italians  thruout  the 
United  States.  The  Census  Bureau  has  just  published 
its  final  report  on  prisoners  based  upon  the  data  ob- 
tained from  the  last  census  in  a  large  535  quarto  page 
volume.  The  figures  below  are  compiled  by  the  writer 
from  the  tables  contained  therein,  and  show  for  the 
Italian  strain  the  lowest  percentage  of  commitments 
arising  from  causes  of  this  description  when  compared 
with  all  other  nationalities : 

♦Journal  of  the  American  Institute  of  Criminal  Law  and 
Criminology.  Vol.  8,  p.  140. 

tThe  American  Journal  of  Sociology — "Alcohol  and  Crime," 
George  Elliott  Howard,  July  1918,  p.  65. 


TO  AMERICAN  DEMOCRACY  81 

PRISONERS  AND  JUVENILE  DELINQUENTS  COMMITTED 
FOR  DRUNKENNESS,  1910* 


Ratio  of 

Nationality 

Number 

Percentage  Commitments§ 

ITALY 

2,124 

30.0 

158.1 

Russia 

2,771 

49.4 

234.0 

Austria 

3,525 

50.9 

416.9 

France 

3,354 

51.2 

302.0 

Hungary- 

1,185 

51.5 

239.1 

Switzerland 

209 

53.5 

167.4 

Germany 

5,060 

57.1 

218.9 

Mexico 

3,031 

59.0 

1,379.0 

Canada,  English 

3,531 

64.1 

435.4 

Canada,  French 

1,549 

63.2 

402.3 

Ireland 

20,825 

nn 

1,540.1 

Other  Countries 

2,735 

54.5 

366.0 

*  Compiled  from  "Prisoners  and  Juvenile  Delinquents" — Bu- 
reau of  Census,  1919,  pp.  130-131. 

§  Number  committed  per  100,000  white  population  born  in 
the  same  country. 


82  THE  ITALIAN  CONTRIBUTION 

PART  III. 

PSYCHOLOGICAL  TRAITS* 

CHAPTER  X 

INTRODUCTION 

DIFFICULTIES  OF  CLASSIFICATION— In  placing 
Americans  of  Italian  extraction  in  the  four**  classes  de- 
scribed below  the  writer  is  following  a  purely  arbitrary 
plan  of  classification.  It  is  not  meant  that  there  is  any 
hard  and  fast  line  which  serves  to  mark  off  one  class 
from  another  or  that  any  objective  indicia  exist  that 
can  be  used  to  measure  exactly  subjective  states  of 
mind;  or  even  that  the  four  following  types  exhaust  all 
the  types  of  mind  that  there  are  to  be  found  among  the 
peoples  of  Italian  lineage  that  make  their  homes  here. 
Relative  rather  than  absolute  standards  are  behind  the 
classifications  made. 

The  question  of  the  quantitative  measurement  of  sub- 
jective states  of  mind  has  produced  a  good  deal  of  dis- 
cussion. Giddings  has  attempted  to  derive  a  law  of  sym- 
pathy, and  therefore  likeness,  inherent  in  a  population 
based  upon  their  "consciousness-of-kind",  seeking  to 
show  that  the  nature  of  a  population's  density  and  homo- 
geneity corresponds  to  the  character  of  its  material  en- 
vironment.f  Another  well-known  sociologist  Gabriel 
Tarde  in  his  "Social  Laws"  holds  that  intellectual  activi- 
ties of  the  individual  can  be  quantitatively  measured.! 

*  The  terminology,  classifications,  and  descriptions,  used 
— through  PART  III — Psychological  Traits,  follow  closely  and 
are  adapted  from  the  terminology,  classifications  and  descrip- 
tions of  Giddings   (vide,  Inductive  Sociology,  passim.) 

**  The  four  types  of  individuals  to  be  briefly  described  in 
this  section  are: 

(a)  The  "tenement"  type    (an  ideo-emotional  type). 

(b)  The  "trade"  and  "business"  type    (a   dogmatic-emotional 
type). 

(c)  The  "Y.  M.  C.  A."  and  "College"  type  (a  transitional  type). 

(d)  The  "professional"  type   (a  critical-intellectual  type), 
t  Giddings — Inductive  Sociology,  p.  118. 

t  Page  34. 


TO  AMERICAN  DEMOCRACY  83 

M.  M.  Davis,  Jr.,  shows  how  this  quantitative  method 
has  been  applied  to  anthropological  data.§  With  socio- 
logical data,  however  the  case  appears  to  be  different. 
Too  many  factors  are  concerned,  and  too  many  variables 
need  to  be  considered.  Social  facts  can  not  altogether 
be  stated  in  terms  of  number  or  volume  or  density.  An 
able  presentation  of  this  last  view  is  the  recent  article 
by  Boodin  who  holds  "that  statistical  methods  applied  to 
social  processes  must  indeed  seem  vague  as  compared  to 
the  laws  of  mechanical  science  and  we  are  indeed  rightly 
suspicious  of  too  exact  formulas  in  the  social  sciences."* 
Munsterberg  has  shown  that  the  only  way  mental  eval- 
uations can  be  quantitatively  compared  is  by  first  reduc- 
ing them  to  their  physical  correlates  as  is  done  in  phy- 
siological psychology.  But  this  leaves  out  the  very  heart 
of  the  phenomenon  that  is  to  be  compared.  As  Bristol 
says  "evaluations  differ  from  moment  to  moment  and 
social  facts  are  the  outcome  of  these  ever  shifting  mo- 
ments." Finally  one  of  America's  foremost  sociological 
methodologists  in  a  very  recent  text  while  ascribing  the 
utmost  importance  to  precision  in  preparing  the  data  for 
social  science  does  not  believe  its  true  aim  is  to  bring 
society  within  the  sphere  of  arithmetic.  He  says  "exact 
prediction  and  mechanical  control  for  the  social  world 
I  believe,  to  be  a  false  ideal  inconsiderately  borrowed 
from  the  provinces  of  physical  science.  There  is  no  real 
reason  to  think  that  this  sort  of  prediction  or  control 
will  ever  be  possible."** 

It  is  impossible  therefore  to  subject  Americans  of 
Italian  extraction  to  any  statistical  analysis  that  would 
permit  us  to  measure  quantitatively  their  mental  product 
and  to  compare  it  with  the  product  of  other  Americans. 
The  only  alternative  is  to  judge  them  by  the  institutions 
which  reflect  their  stage  of  mental,  moral  and  general 
civilizatory  progress  and  to  sociologically  evaluate  these. 
Just  such  an  analysis  is  attempted  in  Part  IV,  Social  Or- 
ganization of  this  book. 

§  Psychological  Interpretations  of  Society,  p.  217. 
*  Boodin — American  Journal  of  Sociology,  March  1918,  p.  705 
passim. 
**  Cooley,  Charles  Horton,  The  Social  Process,  p.  398. 


84  THE  ITALIAN  CONTRIBUTION 

At  some  time  or  other  probably  every  one  in  the  class 
labelled  the  ''tenement"  type,  in  certain  specific  reac- 
tions, closely  resembles  individuals  falling  v^rithin  the 
class  labelled  the  "professional"  type  and  vice  versa. 
But  taking  a  broad  perspective  it  can  be  said  that  the 
reactions  of  those  individuals  described  in  the  class 
called  the  "tenement"  type  consistently  resemble  the 
type  of  mind  that  Giddings  has  called  the  "ideo-motor" 
type ;  as  does  the  class  of  individuals  making  up  v^hat  is 
called  here  the  "trade"  and  "business"  type  resemble 
more  than  any  other,  the  type  of  mind  called  by  Gid- 
dings the  "dogmatic-emotional";  and  as  the  last  two 
types  here  described  namely  the  "college"  and  "profes- 
sional" types  resemble  the  so-called  "critical-intellectual" 
type  of  mind. 

In  dwelling  then  on  the  general  characteristics  of  the 
American  of  Italian  extraction  it  would  be  difficult  to 
say  that  any  one  individual  corresponded  altogether  and 
exactly,  to  such  and  such  a  type.  One  finds  that  in  cer- 
tain situations  this  individual's  reactions  are  such  as 
categorize  the  "ideo-emotional"  type,  and  in  other  sit- 
uations the  reactions  more  nearly  correspond  to  those 
distinguishing  the  "critical-intellectual"  type.  In  be- 
tween these  two  types  of  extremes  are  represented  all 
possible  combinations  and  shadings  of  reactions  that 
make  classifications  difficult  at  best  and  open  always  to 
grave  sources  of  error.  Dogmatization  her^  ^i^s  for  the 
sake  of  clarity.  ^j  ^^ 

While  the  basis  for  classification  of  types,^,-9;f  Ameri- 
cans of  Italian  extraction  is  therefore  a  purely  arbitrary 
one,  nevertheless  there  are  certain  constant  factors  no- 
ticed thruout  that  are  helpful  in  forming  a  judgment  as 
to  what  logically  constitutes  the  proper  ground  or  basis 
for  classifying  an  individual  in  such  and  such  a  category. 
More  important  perhaps  than  any  other  factor  is  that 
of  education.  Not  only  does  it  determine  the  kind  of 
activities  that  are  indulged  in.  l)ut  also  the  associations 
that  are  formed  and  the  nature  of  the  contacts  estab- 
lished. The  full  volume  of  the  type  under  surveillance 
here  has  not  yet  advanced  sufficiently  in  years  to  give 
us  any  basis  for  making  any  conclusions  in  this  respect. 


TO  AMERICAN  DEMOCRACY  85 

ECONOMIC  STATUS— The  economic  status  of  the 
home  determines  in  most  cases  the  circle  in  which  the 
individual  is  to  move.  As  a  rule  the  American  of  Ital- 
ian extraction  is  poor  and  this  class  has  not  produced 
any  great  financial  men  such  as  the  Hebrews  have.  Not 
infrequently  however,  the  individuals  of  this  class  rise 
above  the  economic  obstacle.  The  president  of  the  Co- 
lumbia Circolo*  at  Columbia  University  at  the  outbreak 
of  the  war  figured  out  that  almost  fifty  percent  of  this 
type  of  student  at  Columbia  was  there  either  thru  schol- 
arship aid  or  by  means  of  work  done  after  school 
hours.  The  economic  background  for  the  great  majority 
of  Americans  of  Italian  extraction  is  that  lowest  down 
in  our  wage  scale. 

PLEASURES— The  physical  background  for  by  far 
the  overwhelming  majority  of  this  type  of  American  is 
the  "street."  It  is  their  playground.  The  home  is  not 
to  be  considered  as  a  desirable  place  to  spend  one's 
leisure  time  in  so  far  as  fully  85  percent  of  these  Ameri- 
cans in  New  York  City  are  concerned.  That  the  "street" 
has  the  better  of  the  competition  between  the  two  is 
shown  by  the  frequent  claim  made  by  so  many  Italian 
mothers  that  "their  children  are  wild  and  so  they  put 
them  in  an  institution  or  an  asylum."  A  survey  of  the 
Italian  colonies  in  New  York  City  shows  that  there  are 
at  least  300,000  such  people  in  New  York  City  of  an  age 
calculated  to  make  fit  subjects  for  the  influences  of  the 
"street"  to  effectively  work  upon. 

The  ages  of  each  group  determine  the  nature  of  the 
activities  indulged  in.  For  instance  in  the  professional 
type  our  individuals  are  settled  and  matured.  Their 
status  can  be  more  easily  determined  and  with  greater 
accuracy  than  that  of  the  other  three  types  discussed 
which  are  still  in  a  transitional  or  unsettled  stage. 

Length  of  stay  in  this  country  affects  the  vocation 
of  the  individual  but  hardly  his  status  with  the  different 
groups  noted.  But  the  degree  of  parental  influence  ob- 
taining is  very  important  in  that  it  determines  largely 
the  attitude  one  takes  towards  questions  in  politics.  If 
one  is  closely  linked  up  with  the  family  of  an  older  gen- 

*  Nicholas  Bucci— "Italian  Scholarship  at  Columbia."  The 
Italian  Intercollegiate— Vol.  1,  Jan.  1917,  p.  4. 


86  THE  ITALIAN  CONTRIBUTION 

eration  and  the  influence  of  the  parent  is  strong  he  is 
apt  to  think  as  does  the  parent,  thereby  thwarting  the 
development  of  a  full-blown  American  habit  of  thinking 
and  of  action.  In  the  instance  here  under  discussion 
however,  this  family  bond  or  parental  sway,  among  the 
Italian  speaking  Americans,  is  very  attenuated. 

By  noting  one's  play  and  recreational  activities  we 
get  the  surest  index  of  the  innate  bent  of  the  type. 
Among  these  people  too  often  the  work  they  do  is  least 
expressive  of  themselves  but  *'in  their  pleasures  they 
are  themselves  and  follow  their  bent."*  The  largest 
modicum  of  free  choice  is  evidenced  in  one's  play,  and 
so  by  observing  the  nature  of  the  recreations  indulged 
in  one  is  afforded  another  way  of  judging  the  type  of 
mind  in  question.  One's  mode  of  life  includes  such  fac- 
tors as  cooperation,  individual  and  social  choices,  per- 
sonal characteristics,  etc.,  and  these  are  all  helpful  in- 
dices for  judging  the  type. 

Whether  one  is  a  citizen  or  not  plays  little  part  in 
determining  the  class  into  which  he  falls.  Vocation  is 
a  factor  in  determining  the  way  an  individual  is  to  de- 
velop and  the  class  into  which  he  is  placed.  All  these 
factors  together  serve  to  point  out  or  gauge  in  a  rough 
but  approximately  certain  way  the  general  trend  of  the 
individual  type.  None  of  the  distinctions  made  are  ab- 
solute— a  constant  over-lapping  exists  and  the  classifi- 
cations made  correspond  as  was  said  before,  in  a  rough 
way  and  reflect  the  type  of  organization  described  in  the 
chapters  on  Social  Organization.  So  that  judging  from 
the  above  we  find  what  we  have  been  led  to  suspect, 
namely  that  it  is  the  "ideo-motor"  and  "ideo-emotional" 
types  of  mind  among  Americans  of  Italian  extraction 
in  New  York  City  that  belong  to  the  "street,"  "athletic" 
and  even  "settlement"  clubs ;  the  "dogmatic-emotional" 
type  that  is  joining  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  Associations  and  their 
like,  such  as  the  religious  and  benevolent  associations 
and  the  civic  club ;  and  the  "critical-intellectual"  type  of 
mind  that  is  interested  in  the  high-school  and  college 
Circolo,  the  Social  Welfare  League  and  the  Professional 
club. 

♦Williams,  An  American  Town,  A  Sociological  Study,  Co- 
lumbia University  Studies  in  Political  Science,  etc.,  p.  107. 


TO  AMERICAN  DEMOCRACY  87 

CHAPTER  XI 

THE  "TENEMENT"   TYPE 

(AN   IDEO-EMOTIONAL   TYPE) 

BACKGROUND— A  general  survey  of  the  features 
characterizing  the  "tenement"  type  of  American  of  Ital- 
ian extraction  will  disclose  the  following  information.  As 
a  rule  they  are  not  the  muscle-bound,  stolid,  heavy-set 
coarse  physical  type  such  as  is  represented  by  the  immi- 
grant who  comes  here  "en  masse."  Boas'  studies  of  the 
descendants  of  Italian  immigrants  show  that  they  suffer 
physically  from  the  readjustment  to  this  climate  and 
environment. 

The  home  conditions  are  such  that  one  wonders  why 
there  are  not  more  perversions  of  the  natural  instincts 
than  actually  is  the  case.  Coming  from  neighborhoods 
whose  inhabitants  find  their  margin  of  economic  subsist- 
ence a  very  slender  one,  as  a  rule  little  time  is  left  or 
inclination  evolved  that  can  be  devoted  to  things  of  the 
spirit  or  to  matters  cultural  and  influences  refining. 

Congestion,  poor  sanitation,  foul  air  and  poverty  all 
breed  in  time  a  nonchalant  indifference  to  these.  Am- 
bition is  starved  and  where  not  actually  killed,  the  resi- 
dual modicum  lives  on  to  embitter  a  rancorous  cynicism. 
It  is  true  that  as  you  keep  piling  on  opportunities,  a  lad 
is  apt  to  hold  them  cheaply  if  not  altogether  indiffer- 
ently; but  it  is  equally  true  that  if  the  struggle  to 
achieve  be  made  too  bitter  it  will  inevitably  poison  the 
springs  of  character.  For  those  of  Italian  stock  the 
percentage  of  criminals  is  recruited  largely  from  this 
class,  and  is  the  shadowy  basis  for  the  grossly  exag- 
gerated statement  of  Hall  that  the  descendants  of  the 
ItaHan  immigrants  are  twice  and  three  times  more  crim- 
inal than  are  their  fathers.  To  a  large  extent  these 
Americans  "gone  wrong"  have  lived  too  long  under  the 
perverting  influences  of  the  "street"  and  the  niggardly 
auspices  of  our  social  organization  which  found  no 
proper  outlet  for  their  pent-up  energies. 


88  THE  ITALIAN  CONTRIBUTION 

Looking  at  the  spiritual  development  of  this  type  one 
must  report  a  dearth  or  paucity  of  spiritual  thinking  or 
even  interest.  They  are  a  people  of  deed  and  not  of 
C7'eed.  Where  there  is  avowed  adherence  to  religious 
tenets  it  is  apt  to  be  of  a  formal  and  perfunctory  kind, 
in  many  cases  representing  what  is  feared  rather  than 
understood.  Dr.  Jones  was  led  to  say  that  the 
"religious  life  of  the  Italian  is  spasmodic  and  is  stimu- 
lated chiefly  by  religious  celebrations  that  appeal  to  the 
dramatic  instincts,  or  as  it  is  stirred  by  some  calamity 
that  befalls  the  individual  or  his  friends."*  This  is  ex- 
actly what  Woods  has  in  mind  when  he  says  that  "the 
Italian  goes  to  church  for  social  reasons."** 

It  can  safely  be  said  that  the  "tenement"  type  has  had 
little  if  any  schooling  extending  beyond  the  grammar 
grades.  The  work  they  do  must  be  financially  remun- 
erative and  that  immediately  so.  The  membership  dis- 
tribution of  the  "Huskies"  and  of  the  "Nameoka"  As- 
sociations which  are  the  two  organizations  with  mem- 
bers of  this  type  specifically  described  showed  that  the 
majority  are  practising  vocations  that  require  little  if 
any  school  discipline.  Such  vocations  as  are  practised 
are  varied  and  the  character  of  application  to  such  is 
intermittent.  The  home  offers  little  incentive  to  con- 
tinued employment,  for  in  the  main  the  influences  eman- 
ating from  the  crowded  tenement  homes  where  the  Ital- 
ian speaking  population  literally  teems,  are  unsocial  in 
character.  The  growing  generation  of  such  Italians  in 
New  York  City  misses  by  a  wide  margin  the  courtesy, 
politeness  and  generally  social  qualities  of  his  parent. 

PERSONAL  CHARACTERISTICS— In  disposition 
these  Americans  correspond  most  nearly  to  what  Gid- 
dings  calls  the  "instigative"  type.  A  marked  tone  of 
pleasure-craving  exists  thruout  and  is  perhaps  dominant. 
The  pleasure-loving  character  of  this  type  calls  for 
pleasures  that  are  of  a  motory  and  sensory  kind.  Boon 
companions,  a  good  social  time  and  not  too  long  and 

♦Jones,  Dr.  Thomas  J.,  Sociology  of  a  New  York  City  Block, 
p.  95. 
**  Woods,  Robert  A.,  Americans  in  Process. 


TO  AMERICAN  DEMOCRACY  89 

concentrated  time  and  attention  on  any  one  problem — 
betray  the  "Latinity"  of  this  group. 

While  no  adequate  statistical  proof  exists  from  which 
to  determine  the  distribution  for  all  types  of  disposi- 
tions for  all  nationalities  that  are  most  prevalent,  com- 
mon observation  assures  us  that  instigative  dispositions 
are  more  numerous  than  the  "aggressive"  and  much 
more  numerous  than  the  "domineering"  while  relatively 
few  dispositions  are  "creative."*  In  noting  these  indi- 
viduals of  the  "tenement"  class  as  instigative  in  dispo- 
sition we  see  that  they  conform  to  the  type  of  disposi- 
tion that  is  most  prevalent  for  all  races. 

We  find  also  that  theirs  is  a  type  of  character  that 
employs  "temptation"  and  "persuasion"  as  a  means  of  ac- 
complishing its  end.  The  dispositions  of  this  "tene- 
ment" population  are  made  to  follow  along  indirect  ra- 
ther than  direct  channels.  There  is  always  some  "dou- 
ble-crossing" (to  use  their  own  expression)  going  on 
among  these  people.  The  native  suspicion  of  the  mem- 
bers of  this  class  makes  this  a  widely  used  thing. 

COOPERATION— These  people  all  have  the  Italian 
language  as  a  background  for  their  linguistic  inheritance. 
But  it  is  not  that  liquid  and  musical  Italian  of  which  we 
read;  instead  it  is  a  blend  or  jargon  of  dialects  under- 
stood only  by  the  group  of  families  that  came  from  the 
same  district  in  Italy.  Cooperation  for  the  adult  is  lim- 
ited to  these  similarly  speaking  Italians ;  for  the  younger 
generation  it  is  limited  by  the  objective  conditions  that 
obtain.  The  generally  cooperative  nature  of  the  Amer- 
ican of  Italian  extraction  is  shown  by  the  numerous  so- 
cial, educational  and  political  interests  that  he  always 
has  in  hand.  Subjective  conditions  of  cooperation  are 
determined  by  type  of  mind,  of  disposition  and  of  char- 
acter. Because  the  mental  type  of  this  class  of  indi- 
viduals is  largely  "ideo-emotional"  we  have  a  coopera- 
tion evidenced  that  is  largely  based  upon  action  swiftly 
and  even  superficially  sympathetic.  All  the  forms  of  ac- 
tivity indulged  in  show  simple  action  and  lots  of  it 
whether  it  is  a  picnic  or  a  dance.     Giddings  found  an 

*  Giddings,  F.  H.,  Descriptive  and  Historical  Sociology,  p.  210. 


90  THE  ITALIAN  CONTRIBUTION 

overwhelming  majority  of  the  American  people  to  be 
of  the  "ideo-emotional"  and  "dogmatic-emotional"  type. 
His  words  on  this  point  are  "the  general  conclusion  that 
the  mental  mode  of  the  American  people  as  a  whole  is 
'ideo-emotional'  to  'dogmatic-emotional'  may  probably 
be  accepted  as  established."*  In  this  instance  therefore 
and  so  far  as  mental  modes  are  concerned  our  American 
of  Italian  origin  is  not  very  different  from  the  native 
stock. 

The  group  of  organizations  with  memberships  of  in- 
dividuals falling  within  this  category  among  Italian 
speaking  Americans  affords  many  instances  of  the  char- 
acter of  their  cooperation ;  and  because  their  Latin  ap- 
preciation is  relatively  high  the  result  is  that  the  coop- 
erative activities  entered  into  fall  along  instinctive  as 
well  as  along  sympathetic  lines.  There  is  no  doubt  that 
in  every  organization  effected  on  the  East  Side  the  indi- 
viduals comprising  it  are  foremost  of  all  else  conscious 
of  their  group  integrity  and  deliberately  seek  to  follow 
out  lines  of  cooperation  that  will  strengthen  the  instinc- 
tive basis  upon  which  they  are  organized. 

When  the  Italian  has  lived  here  long  enough  to  no 
longer  resist  the  assimilating  influences  of  environment, 
this  instinctive  character  or  basis  of  their  forms  of  co- 
operation will  be  changed,  but  not  before.  Dr.  Jones 
says  "tenement  dwellers  see  many  sights  and  hear  many 
sounds  and  are  influenced  by  many  people  every  day  of 
their  lives.  But  each  day  the  stimuli  are  the  same,  in 
Winter,  Spring,  Summer  and  Autumn  and  the  people 
they  meet  are  very  much  the  same  as  those  to  whom 
they  are  accustomed.  There  is  little  time  for  individual 
improvement  and  so  while  the  elements  composing  these 
people  are  immeasurably  different  in  character  and  in 
mind,  assimilation  is  inevitable.  Appreciation  of  one 
another  will  increase ;  inter-marriage  and  blending  of 
characteristics  will  follow  and  similarity  of  behaviour 
will  be  greater.  The  Italian  will  be  less  impulsive  in 
his  responses."**    When  this  occurs,  probably  not  until 

*  Psychological  Review,  Vol.  8,  No.  4,  July  1901,  pp.  337-349. 
**  Jones,  Dr.  Thomas  J.,  Sociology  of  a  New  York  City  Block, 
p.  40. 


TO  AMERICAN  DEMOCRACY  91 

the  third  generation,  a  radical  modification  of  this  in- 
stinctive basis  for  the  forms  of  social  organization  of 
this  type  will  be  in  order. 

Because  such  groups  of  this  "tenement"  type  of  peo- 
ple are  limited  in  membership  to  those  who  come  from 
the  same  district  or  neighborhood  and  are  easily  access- 
ible one  to  another,  intercommunication  is  easy,  contacts 
are  frequent  and  both  these  serve  to  strengthen  the  sub- 
jective conditions  of  cooperation.  Frequent  contacts  af- 
ford the  widest  opportunity  for  intimate  associations  but 
as  Jones  has  intimated,  only  with  those  of  a  relatively 
like  kind.  It  is  not  surprising  therefore  to  find  the 
"esprit  de  corps"  among  such  groups  remarkably  te- 
nacious. Concrete  instances  of  collective  behaviour  are 
numerous.  At  practically  all  bazaars,  entertainments, 
and  benefits  of  an  extra-local  nature  where  the  call  is 
made  on  the  basis  of  their  common  Italian  ancestry 
these  individuals  are  enlisted  with  enthusiasm.  Such 
affairs  are  numerous.  Some  of  those  of  recent  date  are 
the  McDougal  Alley  Festa,  Italian  Allied  Bazaar  at  the 
Grand  Central  Palace  for  the  relief  of  Italian  Reservists, 
the  Italian  Village,  New  York  Public  Library  (auspices 
of  Italian  Ambassador),  Italy  Day  (June  24th),  the  An- 
nual Benefit  for  the  Italian  Hospital,  etc.  It  is  this  dis- 
play of  the  cooperative  spirit  within  the  group  that 
largely  makes  possible  the  continuity  of  such  affairs. 
One  could  very  easily  add  numerous  other  instances  to 
show  how  definite  and  real  are  the  bonds  between  such 
individuals  that  make  for  cooperation. 

The  "tenement"  type  of  Italian  speaking  American, 
it  is  true  often  contributes  to  affairs  as  have  been  men- 
tioned without  any  very  great  understanding  of  their 
real  nature ;  but  this  is  because  he  is  able  to  discern 
one  of  his  own  kind  or  of  a  relatively  like  kind  very 
readily.  As  a  rule  his  Italian  nature  is  apt  to  view  with 
distrust  advances  made  by  strangers.  Possible  friends 
are  greeted  with  a  cordiality  that  depends  not  so  inuch 
upon  any  reflective  sympathy  as  it  is  due  to  the  spon- 
taneity of  their  effervescent  natures. 

This  is  to  say  that  their  consciousness  of  kind  is  in- 
tensive in  feeling  but  narrowly  grooved.     It  does  not 


92  THE  ITALIAN  CONTRIBUTION 

allow  for  the  breadth  and  latitude  discernible  in  the 
wholly  tolerant  and  always  *'open  mind"  which  devel- 
ops only  from  extensive  reading,  varied  intercourse,  in- 
tercommunication and  wide  travel.  Let  the  intense  Ital- 
ian nature  once  get  "set"  and  it  becomes  intolerant  of 
doubt,  impatient  with  hesitation  and  scornful  of  weak- 
ness in  others.  In  eighty-six  families  within  the  Italian 
block  studied  by  Jones,  instinctive  responses  of  this 
type  of  mind  to  set  stimuli  were  found  to  be  the  pre- 
dominant method  of  appreciation  and  in  93  cases  were 
judged  to  be  an  important  subordinate  method.* 

Americans  of  Italian  extraction  of  this  class  desire 
and  feel  afifection ;  desire  and  expect  sympathy ;  experi- 
ence penetratingly  the  desire  to  be  recognized  and  ap- 
preciated; are  acutely  conscious  of  resemblances — but 
their  environment  and  associations  do  not  operate  to 
give  them  the  mellowness  and  sanity  of  balance  in  these 
things  as  come  only  with  varied  intercourse  and  associa- 
tions, communication,  quiet  time  for  reflection,  leisure, 
deliberation,  opportunities  for  exercising  options  and  the 
exercise  for  independent  judgment  on  matters  of  finan- 
cial and  social  import.  These  aspects  of  development  are 
pitifully  circumscribed  in  their  cases,  by  the  fact  that 
many  of  these  opportunities  are  the  reflection  of  a  cer- 
tain economic  freedom  and  relatively  higher  social  plane 
of  living  than  is  that  with  which  they  are  familiar  or  that 
their  circumstances  permit  them  to  enjoy.  Further- 
more, the  environment  of  the  East  Side  and  of  the  other 
colonies  where  there  are  Italians,  acts  as  an  effective 
damper  upon  any  excessive  and  sustained  idealism  and, 
incubus-like,  clots  out  any  such  effort. 

PLEASURES — Pleasures  of  this  type,  as  has  been 
said,  are  largely  of  a  motor  and  sensory  kind  and  in  no 
way  greatly  different  from  the  pleasures  of  the  ''tene- 
ment" types  of  the  various  nationalities  that  one  readily 
meets  in  a  tour  thruout  the  slum  sections.  One  meets 
with  the  usual  round  of  socials,  dances,  picnics,  parlor 
and  athletic  games.  Music  is  always  made  most  of  and 
individual   performances   by   persons   of    superior   talent 

*  vide  Jones,  Thomas  J.,  Sociology  of  a  New  York  City  Block, 
p.  52  seq. 


TO  AMERICAN  DEMOCRACY  93 

the  writer  has  found  more  numerous  among  these  peo- 
ple than  among  the  American  of  Jewish,  Irish  or  Ger- 
man extraction.  Cards  are  a  close  second  and  the  game 
invariably  is  attended  with  betting. 

Pleasures  of  emotional  ideation  include  religious  ac- 
tivities. One  notes  that  interests  along  these  lines  are 
not  up  to  par,  in  many  cases  not  even  extending  to  at- 
tendance of  religious  services.  Belonging  to  a  church, 
with  many,  is  a  mere  verbal  adherence  to  its  traditions. 
Little  if  any  original  thinking  is  done.  Some  outward 
manifestations  such  as  church  going,  wearing  amulets, 
charms,  and  lighting  candles  in  the  homes  are  practised 
but  all  this  is  indicative  of  the  adult's  prerogative.  If 
it  means  anything  to  the  youth  it  is  a  sapless  acquies- 
cence to  what  is  feared  rather  than  what  is  understood. 
They  say  and  feel  themselves  to  be  living  in  the  present 
and  in  their  thinking  what  is  not  in  the  present  is  not 
at  all. 

With  regard  to  his  pleasures  of  inductive  ideation  the 
case  is  more  hopeful.  Practically  all  read,  for  all  have 
had  a  smattering  of  public  school  education,  some  even 
having-  finished  the  elementary  course.  It  would  be 
difficult  to  say  what  constitutes  the  back-bone  of  read- 
ing for  this  type.  Topics  run  thru  the  whole  field  of 
choices  and  are  both  well  chosen  and  persisted  in.  News- 
papers and  magazines  are  commonly  read.  Of  news- 
papers perhaps  the  Journal  is  the  most  read  and  more 
widely  known  than  any  other.  This  group  character- 
ized as  the  "tenement"  type  is  the  most  common  type 
of  mind  among  the  Americans  of  Italian  extraction  in 
New  York  City  and  more  than  quadruples  the  "critical- 
intellectual"  type  of  mind  existing  among  the  profes- 
sional class. 

TYPE  OF  MIND — Already  several  investigations  have 
been  made  each  attempting  to  determine  the  most  preva- 
lent type  of  mind  characterizing  the  "tenement"  type  of 
the  Italian  portion  of  this  city's  population.  All  agree 
that  the  "ideo-emotional"  type  is  the  most  common. 
Douglas*  in  specifically  describing  six  representative  in- 

*  Douglas,  David  W.,  Influence  of  the  Southern  Italian  on 
American  Society  (Columbia  Univ.  Studies  in  Sociology). 


94  THE  ITALIAN  CONTRIBUTION 

dividuals  by  character  sketches,  points  out  that  they  are 
representative  of  the  entire  population  so  situated.  Like- 
wise Haynes**  in  the  group  described  by  him,  again 
using  the  method  of  individual  character  sketches,  in 
eight  out  of  ten  specific  instances  points  to  this  ideo- 
emotional  tone  as  indicative  of  the  entire  "tenement" 
portion  of  Italian  speaking  Americans.  Jones'f  findings 
are  in  like  accord.  Elsewhere  the  present  author^  has 
used  the  same  method,  employed  by  these  writers,  and 
describing  minutely  the  individual  characteristics  and 
personal  traits  of  over  a  dozen  individuals  of  this  class, 
pointed  out  the  "ideo-emotional"  nature  of  their  mental 
modes.  It  seems  fairly  well  established  therefore  that 
this  is  the  most  prevalent  type  of  mind  in  the  Italian 
quarters  of  this  city. 

It  would  not  however  be  without  profit  if  we  inserted 
here  just  one  such  character  sketch,  typical  of  this  type, 
as  it  is  pictured  by  one  not  of  a  like  racial  strain.    Bryce 

Haynes  says  of  A . 

"We  have  no  difficulty  in  classifying  A as  dis- 
tinctively of  a  pleasure-loving,  convivial  type  of 
character  and  of  an  instigative  disposition.  His 
motor  reaction  is  rather  slow  and  continuity  of 
thought  decidedly  intermittent.  The  kind  of  move- 
ment may  most  properly  be  described  as  semi- 
voluntary;  his  emotions  as  weak  and  temperament 
as  sanguine.  His  formation  of  belief  or  judgment 
may  be  classed  as  objective  and  his  mode  of  reason- 
ing as  imaginative  (analogical).  His  motives  of 
appreciation  are  clearly  pleasures  of  sense,  idea  and 
emotion  and  his  wide  interest  would  cause  his 
method  of  appreciation  to  be  called  'curious  inspec- 
tion.' While  his  degree  of  appreciation  is  high, 
his  motives  of  utilization  are  clearly  appetitive  or 
craving  for  pleasures  and  the  method  that  of  insti- 

**  Haynes.  Bryce,  Some  Italian  Types  of  Mind  (Columbia 
University  Studies). 

t  Jones,  Thomas  J.,  Sociology  of  a  New  York  City  Block 
(Columbia  University  Studies). 

t  Mariano,  John  H,,  A  Sociological  Study  of  Certain  Italian- 
Americans.  (Columbia  Univ.  Studies  in  Sociology). 


TO  AMERICAN  DEMOCRACY  95 

gation.  Motives  of  characterization  may  most 
properly  be  classed  as  new  desires  while  accommo- 
dation fittingly  describes  the  method.  Comparing 
the   above   with   the   description   of  the   ideo-emo- 

tional  type  of  mind  we  find  that  A is  a  typical 

example."* 
Naturally  with  such  individuals  we  find  that  motor 
impulses  are  high  and  strong;  instincts  are  saturated 
with  varying  emotions,  the  gay  predominating.  In  sym- 
pathy the  American  of  Italian  extraction  of  this  class  is 
quick  to  respond  but  the  reactions  tend  to  be  instable  as 
often  as  they  are  stable.  An  overwhelming  exuberance 
regarding  a  new  undertaking  is  frequently  apt  to  meet 
with  a  quiet  death  through  as  rapid  a  disinterestedness. 
The  American  of  Italian  extraction  is  rich  in  imagina- 
tion, again  speaking  for  this  type  only,  with  greater  than 
the  pro  rata  decrease  in  creative  intellect  that  often 
corresponds.  Ideas  are  abundant  but  tend  to  be  loosely 
org'anized  and  so  lack  much  of  that  strong  centralizing 
bond  that  is  needed  to  harness  them  and  render  them 
fit  to  be  put  into  execution.  But  much  that  is  depreca- 
tory in  this  respect  is  subject  to  some  discounting  by 
virtue  of  the  fact  that  excellency  in  these  is  a  reflection 
of  exposure  to  systematized  instruction  and  maturity  in 
years  neither  of  which  factors  are  of  paramount  im- 
portance in  considering  this  American  of  the  "tenement" 
class. 

The  American  of  Italian  extraction  as  we  find  him 
here  is  quick  to  respond  to  any  stimulus  but  such  prompt- 
ness is  often  at  the  expense  of  persistency.  Such  reac- 
tions are  apt  to  be  as  involuntary  as  they  are  voluntary. 
Reactions  are  followed  frequently  by  discussions  setting 
forth  good  reasons  why  a  particular  enterprise  should  be 
supported  giving  the  whole  affair  an  air  of  concerted 
volition  supplemented  by  rational,  intellective  motives 
and  by  logical  rather  than  by  analogical  reasons.  But 
this  again  is  apt  to  be  more  external  than  internal.  Dr. 
Jones  believes  from  this  that  "the  manner  and  intensity 
of  response  to   stimulus  is  quick  but  irregular.     Often 

Haynes,  Bryce — "Some  Italian  Types  of  Mind." 


96  THE  ITALIAN  CONTRIBUTION 

it  seems  out  of  proportion  to  the  stimulus  in  kind  or  in 
intensity — likewise  can  be  noted  the  superiority  of  the 
Anglo-Saxon  race  in  the  close  correspondence  of  stim- 
ulus to  response."*  This  last  deduction  may  be  "rela- 
tively" but  not  "absolutely"  true.  One  must  raise  the 
question,  not  "Does  the  American  of  Italian  extraction 
gesticulate  more?"  but  "Does  he  reason  less?"  An  an- 
swer to  this  question  is  still  forth-coming  from  the  gen- 
etic and  social  psychologists.  We  leave  this  type  of 
American  therefore  with  the  feeling  that  his  greatest 
need  is  "direction." 

*  Jones,    Dr.    Thomas    J. — "Sociology    of    a    New    York    City 
Block/'  p.  28. 


TO  AMERICAN  DEMOCRACY  97 

CHAPTER  XII 

THE  TRADE  OR  BUSINESS  TYPE 

(A  DOGMATIC-EMOTIONAL  TYPE) 

BACKGROUND — As  was  said  earlier  there  is  no 
absolute  way  of  measuring  quantitively  innate  differ- 
ences of  type.  Everything  therefore  must  be  relative. 
All  the  individuals  in  one  category  are  found  at  times 
acting  in  ways  more  or  less  used  to  distinguish  a  dif- 
ferent type. 

The  Americans  of  Italian  extraction  described  here 
as  constituting  the  "trade  or  business"  type  are 
not  the  adult  Italians  in  New  York  City  who  are  in  busi- 
ness today.  Such  individuals  for  the  most  part  are 
products  of  a  different  environment  and  social  organiza- 
tion. The  numerous  businesses  trafficking  in  wines,  li- 
quors, oils,  macaroni,  cheeses,  groceries,  fruits  and 
other  Italian  products  are  for  the  most  part  conducted 
by  Italians  or  (Americans  now)  who  were  not  born  in 
this  country  and  such  as  a  class  fall  outside  this  study. 
What  we  are  describing  here  is  a  type  of  American  of 
Italian  blood  who  has  been  since  his  early  years  engaged 
for  the  most  part  in  subordinate  positions  in  different 
American  industries  of  all  descriptions,  offices,  factories 
and  other  commercial  enterprises. 

These  Americans  of  the  "trade"  or  "business"  type 
are  so-called  because  to  all  obvious  appearances  the 
main  activity  which  admits  of  observance  is  that  con- 
cerned with  the  work  which  brings  in  their  weekly 
wages,  in  other  words,  their  vocation.  The  matter  of 
temperament  however  is  just  as  important  and  must  not 
be  overlooked. 

It  seems  that  such  individuals  are  less  susceptible  to 
American  methods,  ways  of  thinking  and  of  doing  things. 
Their  membership  is  largely  recruited  from  individuals 
representing  the  10.4%  portion  of  Italian  immigration 
that  came  here  before  thejr  fourteenth  birthday.  Their 
"Italianism"  hangs  with  them  too  long  for  them  to  be 


98  THE  ITALIAN  CONTRIBUTION 

permitted  an  early  start  into  American  life.  If  a  house 
to  house  canvass  of  this  type  were  possible  it  would  be 
found  that  a  less  proportion  of  these  are  voters  than  is 
true  of  any  of  the  other  classes.  For  instance  the  Ital- 
ian banks,  benefit  societies,  fraternities  and  newspaper 
hold  little  or  no  attraction  whatsoever  to  any  of  Italian 
extraction  belonging  to  the  tenement,  college,  or  pro- 
fessional types,  but  to  the  American  of  Italian  extrac- 
tion of  the  "trade"  or  "business"  type  the  opposite  holds 
true  and  one-third  of  them  support  such  institutions  in 
some  way  or  other. 

Such  individuals  reflect  also  a  larger  share  of  suscep- 
tibility to  home  culture.  They  are  not  likely  to  go  to 
work  as  office  boys  as  do  the  "tenement"  or  settlement 
types,  or  as  clerks  in  American  industries  and  business 
houses  downtown,  or  as  clerks  for  the  U.  S.  Postal 
Service  or  even  as  truckmen.  Instead  they  flock  to  the 
shops  and  factories  performing  mechanical  work  or 
work  such  as  tailoring,  cloth  sponging,  cigar-making, 
etc.,  where  a  knowledge  of  the  English  language  is  least 
necessary.  It  is  from  this  group  that  the  adult  immi- 
grant institutions  derive  all  of  the  little  flow  of  the 
younger  generation  they  have  to  swell  their  ranks. 

The  physical  background  for  the  "trade"  type  is  the 
same  as  that  of  the  previous  type  with  the  difference 
that  the  home  influence  in  the  former  class  is  dispro- 
portionately large. 

The  fact  that  they  are  categorized  as  the  "trade"  or 
"business"  type  shows  that  their  schooling  as  a  primary 
thing  is  over  and  must  have  been  limited  judging  by  their 
ages  and  the  nature  of  the  work  in  which  they  are  en- 
gaged. The  wages  of  the  "trade"  and  "business"  class 
compare  favorably  with  the  wages  of  the  "tenement" 
group  because  usually  it  represents  labor  that  is  skilled 
or  technical  like  barbering,  tailoring,  shoe-making. 

Their  trades  pay  them  anywhere  from  $25  to  $50  a 
week  and  this  enables  them  to  live  comfortably.  Their 
mode  of  living  is  plain  and  gives  them  an  air  of  thoro- 
going  stability  and  steadiness.  Theirs  is  the  steady 
plodding  nature. 

In   mentality   such   fellows   are   strong  but   narrowly 


TO  AMERICAN  DEMOCRACY  99 

grooved  and  therefore  imperfectly  developed.  If  a  thoro- 
going  study  were  to  be  made  of  the  politics  of  this  type 
it  would  be  found  to  contain  90%  of  the  socialistic  vote 
coming  from  the  Italian  element  of  this  city. 

At  the  same  time,  these  people  are  more  amenable  to 
church  rule  and  regulations  than  the  previous  type.  This 
is  true  partly  because  of  the  degree  of  dependence  they 
as  strangers  in  a  new  land  place  upon  a  recognized 
and  stabile  institution  such  as  is  the  church.  Tempera- 
mental differences  also  count  and  help  explain  the  at- 
tachment of  this  dogmatic-emotional  type  to  the  Church. 
Their  religion  is  taken  seriously  and  acted  out  with  ex- 
treme literalness.  Their  home  conditions  foster  a  nar- 
row and  cribbing  viewpoint  in  all  things.  It  was  this 
type  that  "in  a  small  town  in  the  State  of  New  York 
petitioned  the  Bishop  for  a  church." 

PERSONAL  CHARACTERISTICS— Individuals  of 
this  type  more  nearly  correspond  in  disposition  to  that 
which  is  understood  by  the  word  "domineering."  Every- 
thing that  comes  to  their  notice  and  that  takes  their 
time  must  continue  to  prove  its  worth  if  it  is  to  stay. 
Such  an  individual  subjects  everything  excepting  his  per- 
sonal "hobbies"  to  a  searching  analysis  and  he  is  ready 
to  dissent  quickly  everywhere  and  everytime  that  an 
occasion  presents  itself.  An  organization  effected  by 
such  a  group  is  usually  the  seat  of  more  turmoil  and 
discussion  than  is  true  of  others. 

This  type  of  mind  makes  such  individuals  inclined  to 
introspection  and  they  can  and  do  become  very  un-social, 
missing  by  a  wide  margin  the  "Latin"  buoyancy  of  the 
race  from  which  they  are  descended.  Many  Americans 
say  that  the  greatest  loss  that  the  Italian  sustains  in  his 
contact  with  American  democracy  is  this  perversion  of 
his  "inherent  social  sense."  Mr.  Davenport,  Head- 
worker  of  the  Italian  settlement  says  on  this  point,  "The 
Italian  is  infinitely  bettered  industrially  by  emigrating 
but  socially  he  suffers  a  great  loss."  Both  of  these 
"gains  and  losses" — the  economic  and  the  social — are 
most  markedly  shown  by  way  of  contrast  in  the  cases 
of  this  type  we  are  now  discussing.  In  Italy  these  indi- 
viduals would  have  been  agriculturalists;    in    America 


100  THE  ITALIAN  CONTRIBUTION 

they  are  skilled  mechanics  or  artisans  commanding  a 
relatively  high  wage.  But  in  the  transition  they  lose 
their  "social"  poise.  It  results  in  this  type  of  individual 
continually  photographing  his  own  inner  mental  states. 
He  is  altogether  too  much  with  himself  and  from  one 
who  is  un-social,  he  easily  slips  into  the  type  we  dis- 
tinguish as  anti-social. 

COOPERATION— That  the  above  is  possible  is  ex- 
plained in  part  by  the  circumscribed  character  of  their 
circle  of  friends.  This  fact  is  due  chiefly  to  their 
imperfect  grip  of  the  language.  Such  individuals  strike 
one  as  being  always  unhappy,  though  in  talking  to  them 
this  is  not  easily  seen  or  made  apparent.  One  can't 
escape  the  impression  that  here  is  an  individual  who  has 
attained  maturity  without  ever  having  passed  through 
the  preliminary  stages  of  youth,  play,  etc.  Even  when 
this  type  does  play  it  is  made  a  business  and  taken  very 
seriously.  They  apply  themselves  to  it  with  an  assid- 
uity that  makes  it  seem  a  task  to  the  outsider.  It  is  this 
type  that  Jones  had  in  mind  when  he  saw  the  convivial 
nature  of  the  Italian  change  because  of  the  hard  work 
to  which  he  was  subjected  here.  Qiange  with  this  type 
tho  perhaps  is  slowest  of  all.  Mr.  Douglas  believes  that 
this  type  does  change,  and  changing,  leaves  influences 
that  are  not  bad.     He  says: 

"The  influence  that  the  Southern  Italian  is  exert- 
ing depends  on  the  degree  of  his  assimilation  into 
our  American  stock,  and  indirectly  on  the  extent 
to  which  he  modifies  any  of  our  customs  or  man- 
ners. If  he  is  not  pliable  and  does  not  respond  fa- 
vorably to  the  right  kind  of  leadership;  if  he  per- 
sists in  his  old  habits  and  customs ;  if  in  short  he  is 
lacking  in  the  potentialities  of  good  citizenship, 
then  without  question  we  should  say  that  he  is  a 
dangerous  element  and  his  influence  could  only  re- 
sult in  evil.  We  have  tried  to  show  in  the  body  of 
this  paper  that  the  Italian  is  pliable  and  is  willing 
to  learn.  He  is  thrifty,  industrious,  and  often  ar- 
tistic and  is  lacking  in  that  spirit  of  "rowdyism" 
that  is  prevalent  in  some  of  the  classes  of  our  so- 


TO  AMERICAN  DEMOCRACY  101 

ciety.  We  cannot  say  therefore  in  the  face  of  these 
facts  that  the  Italian  is  detrimental  to  our  social 
welfare.* 
PLEASURES — In  character  the  "trade"  type  repre- 
sents most  truly  the  austere  type.  What  avocations 
they  have  are  apt  to  have  a  moral  coloring.  These  indi- 
viduals consider  themselves  immensely  superior  to  the 
individuals  composing  the  "tenement"  or  "settlement" 
types  whose  occasional  infractions  of  the  law  are 
pointed  to  as  disgracing  the  Italian  name  or  stock  from 
which  they  are  sprung.  To  their  children  they  point  out 
how  little  America  cares.  Possibly  this  class  feels  that 
they  have  not  been  given  a  fair  chance.  All  excesses  of 
conviviality  among  themselves  as  well  as  with  others 
are  frowned  upon.  This  is  the  class  of  the  Italian- 
speaking  people  that  frequent  the  theatres  which  give 
whatever  Italian  plays  are  to  be  seen  in  New  York  City. 
Baseball  and  basketball  is  unknown  or  certainly  not 
practised.  Sometimes  the  Italian  game  of  "Boccie"  is 
indulged  in.  This  is  a  very  simple  game  and  requires  no 
skill  or  dexterity  save  that  gained  in  throwing  a  ball  with 
one  hand.  Pleasures  of  a  moral  tone  are  appreciated 
more.  They  like  to  read  religious  magazines  and  period- 
icals and  are  often  ardent  workers  for  the  church  and 
Sunday  School.  This  form  of  activity  keeps  them  con- 
stantly among  their  own  kind  and  does  not  permit  them 
to  go  out  and  mingle  with  others.  As  they  themselves 
are  not  to  be  changed  in  habits  and  in  mind,  their  con- 
duct serves  to  inevitably  repel  others  who  either  are 
not  of  a  like  kind  or  susceptible  to  their  influence. 

TYPE  OF  MIND— When  we  come  to  classify  the 
"trade"  class  according  to  type  of  mind  we  meet  with  a 
difficult  problem.  This  is  so  because  they  do  not  fall 
clearly  within  any  one  of  the  four  classifications  made 
here.  The  individuals  within  it  present  a  cross  between 
the  dogmatic-emotional  and  the  critical-intellectual 
types  with  the  greater  emphasis  perhaps  on  the  former. 
Beliefs   and   ideas   are   subjectively   determined   by   the 

♦Douglas,  David  W. — "The  Effect  of  the  Southern  Italian  on 
American  Society.  1915, 


102  THE  ITALIAN  CONTRIBUTION 

mood  they  happen  to  be  in.  Sheer  perseverence  will 
cause  such  an  one  to  hold  on  to  first  beliefs  whether 
right  or  wrong.  Often  though,  they  are  apt  to  be  orig- 
inally critical  of  a  proposition  presented  to  them  and 
subject  it  to  an  analysis  showing  the  greatest  latitude 
of  view,  clear  perception,  sound  judgment  and  careful 
reasoning.  But  while  all  such  mental  processes  are  pos- 
sible, they  do  not  always  hold.  Of  a  moralizing  strain 
this  type  is  more  apt  to  let  emotion  and  feeling  rule  so 
that  sheer  dogmatism  makes  it  impossible  for  them  to 
keep  the  "open  mind." 

With  them  emotions  are  strong  but  are  blended  with 
their  beliefs  and  partisan  convictions.  Such  convictions 
are  tenacious  and  a  dominant  factor  in  their  mental 
make-up.  When  such  an  individual  has  taken  an  un- 
equivocal stand  on  a  proposition,  he  becomes  intolerant. 
With  all  this  is  accompanied  a  huge  dash  of  idealism.  It 
is  with  this  type  of  mind  that  the  "benefit"  idea  is 
strong.  The  benefit  organizations  are  most  numerous 
among  this  type.  In  a  measure  also  the  adult  immi- 
grant fraternal  organizations,  immigrant  banks,  and 
foreign  language  newspapers  derive  all  of  the  little  sup- 
port they  have  from  Americans  of  Italian  extraction 
from  within  this  subdivision. 

It  is  this  type  of  mind  also  that  instances  a  degree  of 
appreciation  closely  resembling  the  "intellectual"  type 
that  Dr.  Jones  failed  to  observe  and  which  led  him  to  the 
mistaken  statement  that  it  did  not  exist.*  The  reason 
for  this  was  that  he  failed  to  distinguish  between  the 
adult  Italian  who  has  become  Americanized,  and  the 
American  of  Italian  extraction  not  far  enough  removed 
from  Italian  culture  to  be  distinguishable  as  offering  any 
different  degree  of  appreciation. 

The  "trade"  or  "business"  type,  while  the  second  larg- 
est group  numerically  among  the  Italian-speaking  popu- 
lation of  New  York  City  affects  least  of  any  of  our  Amer- 
ican life  and  social  institutions.  It  is  the  least  Ameri- 
canized of  the  four  main  mental  groups  observable  in 
New  York  City  today. 

♦Jones — "Sociology  of  a  City  Block,"  p.  69. 


TO  AMERICAN  DEMOCRACY  103 

■^^-^.^^.  CHAPTER  XIII  -^^^^^■^■-^^^^■-^-■^^^^■^^' 
THE  "Y.  M.  C.  A."  AND  "COLLEGE"  TYPE 
(A  TRANSITIONAL  TYPE) 

BACKGROUND— It  can  truly  be  said  that  the  hope  of 
America  so  far  as  the  descendants  of  its  immigrants  are 
concerned  lies  with  Americans  of  the  second  and  subse- 
quent generations  and  not  with  the  immigrant  himself. 
Speaking  for  the  Italian  strain  we  come  now  to  a  type 
that  is  distinctly  different  from  the  two  classes  pre- 
viously discussed.  The  "college"  type  of  Italian  speak- 
ing American  is  distinctive  because  for  the  first  time  we 
meet  thru  him  a  stratum  of  social  life  in  the  Italian 
speaking  colony  of  New  York  City  that  is  not  subnor- 
mal. Of  the  three  million  or  more  of  people  of  Italian 
origin  within  our  borders  the  interpreters  of  this  great 
mass  must  come  from  within  this  so-called  "college- 
group."  Just  as  the  hope  of  the  new  China  lies  with 
the  Chinese  students  of  the  growing  generation,  essen- 
tially a  transitional  type,  who  are  studying  in  our  Amer- 
ican schools  and  universities,  so  in  a  certain  sense  like- 
wise, it  is  this  class  of  "college"  Italian-speaking  Amer- 
icans that  is  the  hope  of  Italy.  For  it  is  upon  such 
chosen  individuals  as  these  that  the  responsibility  for 
transmitting  a  national  contribution,  lies ;  and  to  them 
we  must  look  for  the  interpretation  of  the  social,  intel- 
lectual, and  moral  heritage  of  this  stock  they  represent. 

Italian-speaking  Americans  representative  of  previous 
types  have  shown  how  little  was  to  be  expected  of  them 
because  of  their  limited  opportunities  and  how  because 
of  these  limitations  they  have  not  been  able  to  reach 
for  or  even  to  know  the  best  that  real  America  af- 
forded. In  the  case  of  the  individuals  now  reached  this 
does  not  hold.  In  one  sense,  at  least,  namely  that  of 
education,  they  are  on  a  level  with  Americans  of  other 
descents.  A  comparative  survey  of  the  reactions  of  such 
individuals  will  point  out  in  an  informing  way  how  this 
type  is  developing. 


104  THE  ITALIAN  CONTRIBUTION 

One  distinctive  outstanding  feature  here  is  the  nature 
of  the  institution  with  which  they  are  connected.  The 
Y.  M.  C.  A.,  high  school,  or  college  point  out  decidedly 
how  transitional  a  stage  is  represented  in  the  individuals 
with  which  we  have  now  to  deal.  As  yet  they  have  not 
separated  themselves  fully  and  completely  from  insti- 
tutions where  their  attitude  is  chiefly  one  of  receptivity. 
Time  will  have  yet  to  tell,  when  as  a  class,  sufficiently 
numerous,  such  individuals  go  out,  whether  they  will  put 
forth  and  evidence  those  striking  qualities  of  leadership, 
resourcefulness  and  initiative  in  an  American  or  trans- 
planted environment,  which  have  been  true  of  the  Ital- 
ian nature  of  old. 

The  physical  background  for  this  type  is  considerably 
improved  over  that  of  the  two  groups  previously  de- 
scribed in  that  a  greater  measure  of  contact  with  what 
is  best  in  American  life  and  most  true  of  representative 
American  institutions  is  afforded.  The  Y.  M.  C.  A.  and 
the  college  both  permit  these  Americans  to  imbibe  the 
unalloyed  spirit  of  Americanism  in  such  degree  as  is 
possible  in  a  cosmopolitan  centre  like  New  York.  This, 
to  begin  with,  is  a  highly  selective  factor.  For  instance 
the  economic  opportunity  for  this  group  is  vastly  dif- 
ferent. Membership  in  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  costs  $20  per 
annum  and  must  be  paid  in  advance.  Tuition  in  college 
is  anywhere  from  $100  to  $200  per  annum  apart  from 
the  necessary  incidentals  for  books,  and  exclusive  of 
food  and  rent.  This  operates  as  a  bar,  and  a  selective 
process  begins.  Next  the  general  setting  of  the  Y.  M. 
C.  A.,  its  cultural  atmosphere  and  even  spiritual  empha- 
sis, the  college  with  its  campus,  its  stress  on  class 
routine,  abstract  training  and  discipline  are  other  effect- 
ive weeders-out.  The  settlement  type  sometimes  is 
graduated  into  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  (but  more  often  is  not) 
and  sometimes  the  winner  of  a  Phi  Beta  Kappa  key  has 
had  a  background  of  "street"  culture  of  several  years 
length  to  his  credit.  But  more  often  the  transition  is 
too  abrupt  and  so  is  not  made.  In  some  ways  the  set- 
tlement so  pauperizes  and  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  so  patronizes 
that  the  free  and  easy  passage  or  the  feeding  of  indi- 
viduals step  by  step  from  the  lower  to  the  higher  insti- 


TO  AMERICAN  DEMOCRACY  105 

tution  is  not  made.  This  condition  also  reflects  to  be 
sure,  basic  differences  of  mental  modes  and  gives  pause 
to  one  inclined  towards  overstressing  the  factors  of  en- 
vironment and  opportunity,  as  over  against  heredity. 

It  would  be  difficult  to  say  how  different  are  the  home 
conditions  of  members  of  this  type  from  those  of  the 
preceding  unless  in  each  case  a  separate  investigation 
were  made.  Both  extremes  are  represented,  the  very 
well-to-do  Italian  home  and  the  poor,  squalid  and  over- 
crowded one.  It  is  safe  to  say  that  the  majority  of 
homes  of  members  of  this  type  have  as  the  chief  wage- 
earner  a  skilled  workman  rather  than  an  unskilled  la- 
borer. If  the  home  represented  by  such  an  individual  is 
that  of  the  well-to-do  Italian,  one  is  not  unlikely  to  find 
that  the  parent  has  had  a  good  education  in  Italy,  and  is 
either  a  business  man  or  practising  a  profession ;  if  the 
home  represents  the  other  extreme,  the  wage-earner  is 
more  apt  to  be  a  skilled  barber  or  tailor  or  musician 
rather  than  a  ditch-digger,  street-cleaner,  mine  laborer 
or  hod  carrier. 

Because  in  the  main,  the  high-school  type,  of  which 
there  are  thousands  now  in  New  York  City,  is  every- 
thing that  the  college  type  represents,  in  embryo,  and 
with  the  same  traits  only  less  accentuated  and  devel- 
oped, we  will  discuss  the  chief  traits  of  this  latter  class 
only  and  mean  it  to  include  a  large  portion  of  the 
younger  Americans  of  Italian  extraction  studying  in  the 
different  high-schools  and  even  business  schools  of  this 
city. 

PERSONAL  CHARACTERISTICS  —  The  physical 
characteristics  of  this  type  afford  little  indication  of 
their  racial  ancestry.  There  is  a  tendency  toward  dark 
complexions  and  shortness  of  stature,  but  the  features 
while  of  a  foreign  cast  are  difficult  to  define  readily  as 
Italian.  One  might  very  easily  mistake  them  for  the 
Spanish  or  various  South  American  types  that  are  be- 
coming more  frequent.  The  similarity  to  the  Greek 
countenance  is  also  marked.  On  the  whole  they  are 
careful  of  their  clothes  and  spend  a  good  deal  of  time 
on  this  detail.  The  excellent  formal  discipline  to  which 
they  are  being  subjected,  makes  for  a  mind  that,  a?  a 


106  THE  ITALIAN  CONTRIBUTION 

rule,  has  ideas  logically  correlated  and  unified.  Their 
disposition  is  agg"ressive  while  their  ages  serve  many 
times  to  make  them  impulsive  in  action.  It  is  a  type  that 
sets  fashions.  Comparing  them  with  other  Americans  of 
Italian  extraction  it  would  be  nearest  the  truth  to  say 
that  they  are  of  a  creative  disposition,  for  they  lead 
where  the  others  follow.  Dr.  Jones  in  saying  that  the 
Italian  stays  on  the  two  lower  mental  levels  (ideo-motor 
and  ideo-emotional)  had  in  mind  the  "tenement"  type 
which  was  the  only  type  he  investigated  and  possibly 
even  referred  to  the  fathers  or  immigrants.  At  any  rate 
such  was  the  only  type  he  uncovered  when  he  made  his 
sociological  investigation  of  a  New  York  City  Block 
more  than  a  decade  ago.  It  is  evident  that  when  Dr. 
Jones  wrote  his  dissertation  at  Columbia,  he  failed  to 
meet  one  of  the  handful  of  individuals  who  could  be 
classed  by  him  as  being  of  a  creative  disposition  and  who 
happened  to  be  studying  there;  today  however,  more 
than  250  names  in  the  Columbia  catalogue  alone  can  be 
counted  as  eligible  to  such  classification. 

In  character  these  individuals  are  apt  to  be  of  a  con- 
vivial type  but  the  nature  of  the  years  or  ages  at  which 
we  find  them  serves  to  discount  this  generalization 
somewhat.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  what  we  do  find,  all 
things  considered,  is  an  unusually  large  strain  of  seri- 
ousness probably  because  so  large  a  percentage  find  it 
necessary  to  rely  on  other  means  than  parental  support 
for  continuance  in  their  present  most  engaging  busi- 
ness, namely  that  of  getting  an  education.  It  is  difficult 
to  say  whether  as  a  class  their  reactions  in  mental  mat- 
ters are  slow  or  quick.  However  such  reactions  are  for 
the  most  part  voluntary  and  tend  somewhat  towards 
being  individualistic.  In  reasoning  they  are  as  careful 
as  the  average  both  of  the  premises  and  the  logic  in 
question  at  issue,  there  being  nothing  in  race  as  such 
operating  as  a  deterrent  or  otherwise. 

COOPERATION— These  Americans  of  Italian  extrac- 
tion do  not  feel  themselves  to  be  different  from  other 
Americans.  Of  course  they  say  they  are  conscious  of 
their  Italian  ancestry.  One  generation  never  can  ab- 
solutely remove  them  from  this.     In  some  cases  they 


TO  AMERICAN  DEMOCRACY  107 

even  try  to  hide  it.  On  the  whole  this  difference  does 
not,  to  their  mind,  serve  to  set  them  off  as  a  class  apart. 
Their  pleasures  and  their  work  are  exactly  similar  in 
all  respects  to  those  of  other  peoples  and  are  dictated 
by  an  economic  and  mental  rather  than  by  a  racial  back- 
ground. Towards  strangers  their  attitude  is  one  of  per- 
haps unusual  cordiality  because  "lit"  up  by  their  Latin 
warmth.  In  sympathy  they  are  quick  to  respond  and 
the  college  American  of  Italian  extraction  is  continually 
giving  to  benefits  and  other  forms  of  charitable  move- 
ments. There  is  this  one  difference  to  be  noted,  he 
gives  more  if  such  are  for  Italians,  The  Italian  Circolo 
movement  is  an  attempt  to  secure  recognition  for  these 
individuals  as  a  class;  as  individuals  recognition  is  secured 
by  their  participation  in  college  and  campus  activities. 
So  thoroly  acclimated  is  this  American  to  the  whole  so- 
cial and  intellectual  background  of  college  life  that  no 
big  feature  worthy  of  mention  exists  among  them  that 
is  based  upon  pure  race  lines.  Our  conviction  therefore, 
is  that  their  "consciousness-of-kind"  concerning  race  at 
any  rate,  is  eclipsed  by  their  desire  for  recognition,  or 
"consciousness-of-kind"  as  members  of  a  larger  group, 
that  is,  the  college  or  the  university.  No  persistent  or 
well-defined  cooperation  among  these  individuals  is  dis- 
cernible as  a  class.  Such  eft'orts  are  thrown  into  the 
general  melting  pot  of  efforts  contributed  towards  by 
all  the  differently  blooded  Americans  attending  the  same 
school  and  for  the  same  general  purpose.  Their  "Ital- 
ianism"  is  subordinated  to  their  Americanism.  And  so 
by  the  nature  of  both  the  objective  and  subjective  con- 
ditions that  exist,  these  Americans  of  Italian  extraction 
instance  no  cooperation  of  a  narrow  or  inclusive  fashion 
that  would  distinguish  them  as  different  from  other 
Americans. 

PLEASURES— All  honors  whether  athletic,  social  or 
scholastic  are  thrown  open  to  them  on  an  equal  footing. 
Specific  achievements  by  members  of  this  group  are  de- 
scribed in  the  section  on  Social  Organization.  The  one 
pleasure  indulged  in  as  a  group  that  serves  to  set  them 
apart  is  along  dramatic  lines.  This  follows  from  the 
difference  in  the  language.    An  Italian  play  is  annually 


108  THE  ITALIAN  CONTRIBUTION 

given  by  the  Circolo  at  Columbia,  City  College  and 
Hunter  College.  This  play  is  given  in  the  native  tongue. 
Its  greatest  value,  it  seems  to  the  writer  who  has  seen 
these  rehearsed  and  given  for  the  past  six  years,  is 
social  in  character.  In  this  one  solitary  group  activity 
the  college  American  of  Italian  origin  follows  out  truly 
what  a  goodly  portion  of  the  contributors  towards  the 
symposium  in  a  later  chapter  shows  him  to  possess, 
namely  "a  sense  of  dramatic  and  artistic  values."  The 
annual  Italian  plays  at  Barnard  and  Columbia  are  said 
to  be  among  the  very  best  of  the  language  plays  given 
on  college  campuses.  Again  true  to  this  type  or  perhaps 
more  because  in  this  their  option  is  limited,  the  plays 
invariably  given  are  plays  stressing  sensory  and  emo- 
tional values  and  show  high  conviviality.  All  this  illus- 
trates the  gay  strain  of  the  Italian.  In  his  choice  of 
plays  this  individual  is  neither  to  be  praised  nor  blamed, 
for  fully  ninety  percent  of  all  plays  written  in  Italian 
follow  this  vein. 

TYPE  OF  MIND — For  this  group  motor  impulses  are 
strong  and  instincts  and  passions  are  often  swayed  by 
desires  as  well  as  convictions.  This  is  to  say,  the  Italian 
nature  causes  one  to  desire  strongly  and  passionately,  be 
it  athletic  or  scholastic  honors,  and  follows  directly  from 
the  tense  character  of  Italian  fibre.  In  many  cases  this 
intensity  of  nature  makes  them  do  foolish  things  and 
many  times  their  valor  like  that  of  other  school-boys  is 
that  due  to  ignorance. 

The  mental  responses  of  the  "college  type"  are  prompt 
but  whether  persistent  is  a  mooted  question.  At  times 
they  are  apt  to  be  domineering,  arising  from  the  fact 
that  they  feel  this  is  part  of  one  who  is  college-bred.  On 
this  point  we  notice  a  difference  from  the  average.  Gid- 
dings  found  the  mass  of  Mediterranean  stock  "to  be  in- 
stigative  rather  than  domineermg  and  while  leisure- 
loving,  not  indolent  and  used  'instigation'  rather  than 
'dominancy'  to  accomplish  their  ends."*  Often  these  in- 
dividuals possess  a  relative  abundance  of  ideas,  the 
these  ideas  are  loosely  organized  around  a  vocabulary 

♦  Giddings,  F.  H.,  Descriptive  and  Historical  Sociology,  p  210, 


TO  AMERICAN  DEMOCRACY  109 

greater  than  that  of  which  they  are  the  master.  Italian 
loquacity  is  made  apparent.  It  is  not  possible  to  say 
with  any  degree  of  accuracy  just  how  scrupulous  they 
are  with  respect  to  immoral  indulgences.  The  only  safe 
guide  here  is  the  individual.  True  to  their  age  many 
will  attack  a  problem  with  insufficient  deliberation,  and 
this  may  seem  to  mark  them  as  capricious.  This  tho  is 
more  apparent  than  real.  Capriciousness  which  is  to  be 
distinguished  from  "impulsiveness"  and  sensitivity  to 
high  emotion,  is  not  an  Italian  trait. 

On  the  whole  it  can  fairly  be  accepted  that  these  in- 
dividuals making  up  approximately  1.5  percent  of  the 
entire  ItaHan  speaking  population  of  the  younger  gen- 
eration in  New  York  City,  are  proceeding  at  a  rate  of 
development  commensurate  with  their  economic  stand- 
ing. As  economic  conditions  become  better  for  the 
average  Italian  family — the  children  will,  in  increasing 
numbers,  go  to  the  high-schools  of  this  city  instead  of 
going  immediately  to  work,  or  trust  to  evening  schools, 
to  complete  their  schooling.  Subjecting  added  numbers 
to  a  relatively  longer  period  of  formal  academic  discipline 
will  greatly  increase  the  frequency  of  this  type. 


no  THE  ITALIAN  CONTRIBUTION 

CHAPTER  XIV 
THE  PROFESSIONAL  TYPE 

INTRODUCTION— It  is  difficult  to  put  down  here 
anything  that,  racially  distinctive,  would  distinguish  this 
type  from  the  professionally  employed  American  of  other 
descents  and  which  would  serve  to  mark  it  off  as  being 
in  very  many  ways  radically  different.  In  fact  there 
seems  to  be  little,  if  anything,  in  the  way  of  psychologi- 
cal peculiarities  when  compared  to  other  stocks  that 
might  be  mentioned.  It  is  true  that  differences  such  as 
vowel  endings  to  the  name,  a  swarthy  skin,  brown  eyes, 
and  dark  color  of  hair,  possibly  a  tendency  to  under- 
stature  —  if  anthropometrically  plotted  —  would  show  a 
resulting  curve  with  a  preponderance  of  these  above 
physical  characteristics  on  the  side  of  this  professionally 
employed  American ;  or  possibly  one  even  would  be  able 
to  show  in  such  individuals  a  tendency  towards  greater 
usage  of  hands  accompanying  speech,  in  many  cases 
even  violent  gesticulation  and  besides  a  greater  fre- 
quency in  loss  of  temper;  that  perhaps  associated  with 
this  trait  is  the  tendency  towards  a  quicker  changing  of 
mind  and  emotion ;  or  even  that  this  is  more  apt  to  be 
associated  with  superficial  moods.  But  one  scarcely  can 
say  that  these  are  indices  of  mental  inferiority,  or  even 
that  they  are  indices  more  truly  indicating  the  "race" 
rather  than  the  "individual."  Certainly  the  well-accepted 
psychological  tenet  that  "intra-group  are  greater  than 
inter-group"  dift'erences  would  tend  to  make  one  dis- 
believe this.  As  Todd  says  "to  base  a  theory — on  certain 
assumed  inherent  differences  of  racial  character  or  con- 
stitution is  incautious ;  for  greater  variations  of  skull 
formation,  brain  weight,  mental  and  physical  capacity 
are  able  to  be  found  between  members  of  the  same  ethnic 
group  than  between  separate  ethnic  stocks."*  Whether 
a  lawyer,  or  a  doctor,  or  a  teacher,  in  the  main,  if  such 
an  individual  has  secured  the  greater  part  of  his  or  her 

♦Todd,  A.  J.    Theories  of  Social  Progress,  p.  279. 


TO  AMERICAN  DEMOCRACY  111 

training  in  this  country  no  appreciable  differences  exist, 
worth  mentioning,  that  would  serve  to  justify  us  in  dis- 
criminating either  for  or  against  that  type  as  being 
something  "sui  generis."  If  it  is  true  that  a  heightened 
susceptibility  to  mental,  emotional  and  physical  changes 
exists  with  these  people,  it  does  not  warrant  the  assump- 
tion made  by  Dr.  Jones  that  along  with  such  changes 
go  an  analogous  tendency  to  be  superficial  in  their  think- 
ing. It  is  true  that  the  lawyer  is  apt  to  have  a  clientele 
in  which  the  percentage  of  those  having  Italian  names 
predominates,  and  that  a  like  condition  exists  with  that 
of  the  doctor.  But  such  a  condition  is  to  be  noted  as 
being  equally  true  of  the  American  lawyer  of  native 
parentage  and  the  physician  of  Jewish,  Bohemian,  Ger- 
man and  other  extractions.  The  real  way  of  judging 
whether  a  difference  exists  at  all  is  to  determine  whether 
such  individuals  fit  into  the  life  of  those  people,  what- 
ever generation  or  extraction  they  be,  we  call  to  mind 
when  we  think  of  AMERICAN.  This  as  judged  by  the 
institutions  effected  by  them  and  described  in  Part  IV, 
Social  Organization,  they  apparently  do.* 

BACK6rOUND— The  membership  rolls  of  three  rep- 
resentative professional  organizations  of  this  class,  the 
Circolo  Nazionale,  The  Italian  Teachers'  Association  and 
the  Italian  Educational  League  show  a  distribution  of 
members  according  to  residence  as  follows : 

DISTRIBUTION     OF     PROFESSIONALLY     EMPLOYED 
ITALIANS  ACCORDING  TO  RESIDENCE 

Borough                  Italian  Teachers  Italian  Educa-  Circolo 

Association  tional  League  Nazionale 

Manhattan  42                             82  108 

Bronx  31                              38  62 

Brooklyn    25                             52  94 

Queens  12                             28  21 

Richmond  4                               3  12 

Out  of  Town  18                            55  27 

This  class  then  is  not  located  in  any  one  spot,  but  is 

*  Racial  differences  do  exist.  Americans  of  Italian  extraction 
of  both  the  "tenement"  and  "professional"  types  evidence  a 
marked  tendency  towards  an  exceptional  demonstrativity  but 
that  because  of  this,  reasoning  is  any  the  less  or  inferior  even, 
remains  yet  to  be  settled. 


112  THE  ITALIAN  CONTRIBUTION 

scattered  throughout  the  city.  Fully  70  per  cent  of  the 
lawyers  are  located  in  the  heart  of  the  office  district 
downtown.  The  Italian-speaking  doctors  we  find  scat- 
tered throughout  the  Italian  sections  of  the  city,  usually 
in  the  section  where  they  have  grown  up  and  where  they 
now  practise  their  profession.  The  numbers  vary  accord- 
ing to  the  density  of  the  colony.  Thruout  New  York 
City  there  are  approximately  four  hundred  doctors 
compared  to  about  six  hundred  lawyers  of  Italian  origin. 
The  members  of  the  Italian  Teachers'  Association  are 
scattered  most  promiscuously  and  domiciled  in  no  way 
as  could  be  shown  to  connect  up  with  their  place  of 
work.  The  same  condition  exists  for  the  membership 
distribution  of  the  Circolo  Nazionale.  The  background 
therefore  for  the  professionally  employed  American  can 
be  said  to  be  as  typically  American  as  is  possible  in  a 
cosmopoHtan  center  like  New  York. 

For  this  class  of  people  very  few  indeed,  if  any  at  all, 
are  not  citizens.  The  writer  knows  of  none  excepting 
a  few  who  have  secured  their  professional  training 
abroad  and  have  come  here  fully  matured  in  mind  and 
habit.  Such  individuals,  however,  are  not  intended  for 
inclusion  in  this  study.  For  the  most  part  then  this 
class  of  professionally  employed  people  have  either  been 
born  here  or  have  lived  here  the  greater  part  of  their 
lives.  Certainly,  a  lawyer  or  a  doctor  or  a  teacher 
trained  in  Italy  rarely  practises  his  or  her  profession 
among  Americans  of  Italian  extraction.  Should  such 
practise  be  indulged  in  by  any  such  it  usually  is  confined 
to  Italian  immigrants  who  have  in  no  way  been  gripped 
by  American  influences.  In  the  homes  of  the  majority 
of  this  professional  American  the  culture  influences  are 
those  of  the  younger  and  not  of  the  older  generation, 
primarily  because  the  chief  wage-earner  now  is  Ameri- 
can. These  Americans  fit  themselves  and  enter  into 
American  life  and  culture  with  ease  and  are  welcomed. 
In  no  way  is  their  mode  of  living  radically  different  from 
that  which  obtains  among  Americans  of  other  descents. 
In  feeling,  in  speech  and  in  action  surely  no  such  dif- 
ferences exist. 

PERSONAL     CHARACTERISTICS— In     disposition 


TO  AMERICAN  DEMOCRACY  113 

undoubtedly  the  creative  type  predominates,  a  charac- 
teristic dictated  by  class  not  by  race.  Their  training 
permits  these  individuals  to  think  for  themselves.  It 
was  this  type  of  individual,  even  among  the  adult,  evi- 
dently that  Dr.  Jones  ran  across  and  "found  in  House 
No.  211,  and  four  others  filled  with  Italians  of  the  more 
deliberately-minded  kind,  German-like  Italians  from  the 
north  of  Italy."*  What  Dr.  Jones  mistakingly  calls 
"deliberately-minded  kind"  of  Italians  are  in  reality 
Americans  of  Italian  extraction  belonging  to  what  I 
have  termed  the  "professional"  type. 

In  character  these  resemble  individuals  within  the 
classification  labelled  by  Giddings  as  the  "rationally 
conscious"  or  individuals  who  are  aware  of  the  nature, 
purpose  and  intent  of  their  actions  both  individually 
and  collectively.  Their  actions  because  of  the  respon- 
sible character  of  the  work  they  perform  are  to  be 
designated  as  of  a  "conscious"  kind  and  not  narrowing 
as  is  apt  to  be  the  case  when  we  considered  the  voca- 
tions of  the  "trade"  or  "business"  type. 

COOPERATION— It  is  the  business  of  this  profes- 
sional class,  among  their  other  work,  to  be  occupied 
with  providing  for  the  civic,  educational,  moral  and 
physical  welfare  work  that  is  conducted  among  the 
people  from  which  they  themselves  have  sprung.  The 
problems  such  as  these  individuals  of  the  professional 
class  meet  in  their  daily  tasks  require  the  exercise  of 
original  judgment,  initiative  and  considerable  tact.  Fur- 
thermore their  survival  in  the  competitive  struggle 
within  the  sphere  of  professional  activity  which  engages 
them  is  dependent  upon  the  display  of  just  such  qualities 
as  resourcefulness,  deliberation,  good  judgment  and 
logical  thinking  —  all  characteristics  that  typify  the 
"critical-intellectual"  type  of  mind  as  expounded  by 
Professor  Giddings, 

Consequently  in  their  work  for  their  people  as  well 
as  in  the  practice  of  their  professions  such  individuals 
are  being  constantly  thrown  in  contact  with  Americans 

♦Jones,  Thomas  J,  Sociology  of  a  New  York  City  Block, 
p.  25. 


114  THE  ITALIAN  CONTRIBUTION 

of  all  descents.  In  no  way  is  it  possible  to  distinguish 
in  these  contacts  any  feeling  or  sense  of  difference  be- 
because  of  race.  Perception  of  resemblances  is  marked 
by  the  wider  sphere  of  similar  mental  modes  and  not 
similar  racial  backgrounds.  It  is  not  uncommon  to  find 
Jewish  lawyers  with  a  heavy  Italian  following.  On  the 
middle  East  Side  and  in  Brooklyn  are  springing  up 
lawyers  of  Italian  blood  with  almost  an  entirely  Jewish 
clientele.  Likewise  the  Italian  teacher  is  often  found 
in  a  public  school  frequented  largely  by  Jewish  children 
and  vice  versa.  Cooperation  for  individuals  of  this  class 
has  broken  completely  beyond  the  confines  of  race. 
Their  attitude  towards  strangers  is  one  of  the  best  indi- 
cations of  this.  Future  contacts  with  any  such  follow 
individual  tastes,  determined  by  volition  and  choice 
apart  from  any  identity  of  descents  or  extractions.  A 
harmony  of  musical,  professional,  social,  or  educational 
interests  will  in  their  cases  prove  more  binding  than 
nationality. 

TYPE  OF  MIND— The  real  way  to  test  whether  or 
not  an  effective  consciousness-of-kind  has  been  or  is 
being  developed  among  this  class  is  to  take  the  individual 
and  subject  him  to  personal  and  specific  tests.  This 
manifestly  is  impossible.  An  alternative  is  to  ascertain 
what  positions  involving  leadership  have  fallen  to  this 
type,  therefore  instancing  a  process  not  delimited  by 
race  lines.  This  alternative  consists  in  picking  out  those 
individuals  who  by  virtue  of  opportunity  and  training 
have  become  leaders.  To  do  this  is  not  difficult.  Prac- 
tically in  every  field  of  endeavor,  whether  in  the  social, 
educational,  political  or  economic  life  of  this  city,  some 
place  of  prominence  has  been  achieved  by  Americans  of 
Italian  blood.  And  yet  to  be  able  to  point  out  a  strong 
class  "consciousness-of-kind"  among  these  leaders  would 
be  at  the  same  time  to  point  out  how  ineffectively  is 
going  on  the  process  of  our  national  synthetization 
among  them. 

If  "consciousness-of-kind"  as  measured  by  Dr.  Jones 
is  a  steady  and  swift  aggregation  of  like  individuals, 
Americans  of  Italian  extraction  do  not  possess  this  trait 


TO  AMERICAN  DEMOCRACY  115 

in  common  with  their  earlier  predecessors,  for  they  do 
not  flock  together  in  any  noticeable  manner,  as  the 
tabulations  offered  on  page  111  show.  Dr.  Jones'  figures 
in  the  table  below,  gathered  for  a  period  of  four  years 
are  indicative  of  the  condition  not  affecting  the  American 
of  Italian  origin,  but  the  adult  immigrant  who  has  but 
recently  arrived.  He  says  on  this  point:  "The  adult 
Italian  not  long  in  this  country  both  by  necessity  of 
knowing  but  one  language  and  of  economic  pressure  is 
constrained  to  live  in  the  Italian  quarter,  viz : 

ITALIAN    ELEMENT    IN  EACH  HOUSE    EACH   YEAR 

HOUSE  NUMBERS 

Years                    211  213  215         217         219  223 

1895            _           12  _  16           —  10 

1897-1898 1             5  _  _          _  10 

1898-1899 3           12  13  11             9  14 

1899-1900 8           13  15  13           14  2 

His  comment  on  these  figures  is  "the  mental  attitude 
of  the  Italian  in  withdrawing  to  himself  is  not  due  to  a 
perception  of  mental  differences  and  resemblances.  The 
other  nationalities  have  been  longer  in  America  and 
are  to  some  extent  assimilated.  They  have  often  at- 
tained to  a  relatively  high  prosperity.  They  do  not  like 
to  receive  into  their  own  tenement  houses  groups  whose 
families  are  so  near  the  economic  margin  of  subsistence 
that  they  are  willing  to  resort  to  any  kind  of  work,  to 
live  in  any  sort  of  way  and  to  chop  the  stair  banisters 
for  fuel.  On  the  other  hand  the  Italian  immigrants 
being  unable  to  talk  with  English-speaking  nationali- 
ties or  with  Germans  are  compelled  to  speak  their  own 
language."* 

As  the  distribution  of  residences  for  the  members  of 
the  three  largest  and  most  typical  organizations  of  this 
class  of  Americans  show,  the  very  antithesis  of  the  above 
is  to  be  noted.  Theirs  is  not  a  "consciousness-of-kind" 
that  permits  these  individuals  to  flock  together  in  a  swift 
and  steady  aggregation"  but  rather  their  American  spirit 
coupled  with  their  training  and  better  economic  oppor- 
tunities causes  them  to  expand  and  move  out  and  settle 

*  Jones,  Thomas  Jesse.    Sociology  of  a  New  York  City  Block. 


116  THE  ITALIAN  CONTRIBUTION 

in  communities  widely  different  in  their  form  from  any- 
thing to  which  their  parents  are  accustomed. 

Whether  or  not  there  is  a  strong  and  well  developed 
"consciousness-of-kind"  can  best  be  stated  rather  than 
measured  by  a  description  of  the  activities  of  the  Italian- 
speaking  colonies  within  this  city  and  this  we  do  in  the 
next  few  chapters.  One  will  readily  see  that  to  separate 
the  activities  of  such  individuals  from  the  country  of 
their  adoption  is  impossible  so  that  any  reliable  and 
quantitative  index  of  a  "consciousness-of-kind"  is  not 
possible.  At  the  same  time  one  can  see  that  no  complete 
separation  of  such  individuals  from  the  influences  of 
the  country  of  their  ancestors  either  exists  or  is  desir- 
able. 


TO  AMERICAN  DEMOCRACY 


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118  THE  ITALIAN  CONTRIBUTION 

CHAPTER  XV 
THE  ITALIAN-SPEAKING  COLONY  IN  NEW  YORK  CITY 

INTRODUCTION— The  Italian-speaking  colony  in 
New  York  City  divides  itself  sharply  into  two  groups, 
roughly  called  in  this  connection  the  "older"  and  the 
"younger"  generations.  It  would  not  be  amiss  to  say 
that  for  the  most  part  those  individuals  making  up  the 
"older"  generation  secured  their  training  or  schooling  in 
Italy;  a  scant  fifth  came  to  America  while  very  young, 
possibly  even  in  their  teens.  This  is  not  to  say  that 
they  are  any  less  American.  The  "younger"  generation 
on  the  other  hand  was  born  here  and  constitutes  a 
thorough  product  of  American  life  and  American  insti- 
tutions. 

Unquestionably  there  are  many  prominent  Americans 
of  Italian  blood  that  are  not  mentioned  here  in  the  fol- 
lowing pages.  In  many  cases  some  of  these  are  even 
better  known  than  are  those  whose  names  one  will  meet 
with  in  this  writing.  Those  that  are  included  here  have 
come  to  the  writer's  personal  attention  and  he  can  there- 
fore present  accurate  facts  with  respect  to  their  affilia- 
tion to  the  life  of  the  Italian  colony  in  the  city. 

OLD  GENERATION— Some  notable  religious  figures 
are  noticeable  both  among  the  Catholic  and  Protestant 
sects  within  the  ranks  of  the  "older"  generation  today. 
Representing  the  Catholics  there  is  the  Very  Reverend 
Mgr.  Gherardi  Ferranti,  Vicar  General  of  the  Italian 
work  in  this  diocese ;  the  Reverend  Dr.  Grivetti  who  has 
made  an  enviable  reputation  for  himself  through  his 
efficient  handling  of  the  New  York  office  of  the  Italica 
Gens ;  Father  Magliocco,  whose  wonderful  singing  and 
musical  training  mark  him  off  as  one  apart  from  all 
others  in  his  line ;  the  very  pious  Father  Coppo,  Provin- 
cial of  the  Salesian  Order,  who  recently  celebrated  his 
silver  jubilee  ;  and  lastly  the  silver-tongued  orator,  Father 
Silipigni  is  to  be  noted. 

The  Protestants  likewise  have  some  men  of  marked 
ability.    There  is  the  Rev.  Antonio  Arrighi  who  has  given 


TO  AMERICAN  DEMOCRACY  119 

a  life-time  in  the  work  of  uplifting  his  people  and  whose 
reminiscences  are  contained  in  his  happy  little  volume 
"Life  of  a  Drummer  Boy  with  Garibaldi";  the  Rev. 
Fenili,  trained  not  only  in  an  Italian  university,  but  also 
a  graduate  of  Columbia  and  with  an  erudition  that  is 
exceptional ;  Rev.  Antonio  Mangano  whose  wonderful 
little  book  "Sons  of  Italy"  is  the  last  word  in  regard  to 
the  religio-social  situation  as  it  exists  in  the  Italian 
colonies  in  America,  also  an  individual  who  has  a  foot  not 
only  in  the  older  civilization,  but  also  in  the  new ;  the 
scholarly  Dr.  Perazzini  who  wrote  a  book  for  the  Colum- 
bia University  "Studies  in  Comparative  Literature"  and 
is  Director  of  the  Italian  work  for  the  White  Bible 
school  in  this  city;  the  Rev.  Riggio,  Grand  Master  of 
the  Jerusalem  Lodge  of  Masons ;  and  so  the  list  could 
go  on  if  we  had  space. 

In  portrait  painting  quite  some  art  sense  is  manifest — 
witness  Bertieri,  Moretti,  Piccirilli. 

In  education  or  teaching  the  names  are  far  too  numer- 
ous to  mention.  Some  are  Prof.  Racca,  Prof.  Costa,  for- 
merly Assistant  Director  of  the  Italian  Bureau  of  Infor- 
mation, Dr.  Cosenza,  Director  of  the  Townsend  Harris 
Hall  School;  Prof.  Camera,  Dr.  Panarone,  Dr.  Ettari,  all 
of  City  College ;  Prof.  Boselli  of  Vassar,  formerly  with 
the  Italian  Army;  Prof.  Bigongiari  of  Columbia,  who 
likewise  fought  for  Italy;  and  Prof.  Enrico  Cadorin, 
famous  also  as  an  artist.  This  list  does  not  exhaust 
them. 

This  section  would  be  incomplete  however,  if  we  were 
to  leave  out  the  few  school  principals  of  Italian  blood 
that  New  York  City  has.  There  is  first  of  all  Angelo 
Patri,  author  and  social  worker,  principal  of  one  of  the 
largest  Gary  schools  in  New  York  City.  Mr.  Patri  has 
just  written  two  books  on  educational  administration 
that  are  under  advisement  for  possible  use  by  the  Fed- 
eral authorities ;  Mr.  Pugliesi,  principal  of  the  largest 
representative  public  school  of  Italian-speaking  children 
downtown,  and  also  a  product  of  Columbia  University. 
Miss  Cafferata  and  Mrs.  Defarrari-Weygandt  are  names 
that  speak  for  themselves. 


120  THE  ITALIAN  CONTRIBUTION 

To  three  men  of  Italian  blood  at  least  it  has  been  given 
to  wear  the  ermine.  The  best  known  of  all  is  Justice 
John  J.  Freschi  of  the  Court  of  Special  Sessions,  who 
has  behind  him  an  unmatched  record  of  years  of  faithful 
service  in  Italian  welfare  work  in  New  York  City,  hon- 
ored with  a  decoration  by  the  King  of  Italy  and  an 
honorary  degree  from  New  York  University;  Judge 
Louis  Valenti,  a  product  of  New  York  City  schools,  was 
recently  elected  to  the  City  Court ;  and  lastly  F.  X.  Man- 
cuso  whose  work  in  connection  with  the  Waite  case 
earned  for  him  a  magistracy  and  who  bids  fair  to  climb 
higher. 

In  law  it  is  difficult  to  pick  and  make  choices  because 
whatever  choices  are  made  some  are  sure  to  be  slighted. 
Perhaps  the  oldest  practitioner  of  Italian  blood  in  New 
York  City  is  Astarite;  Paul  Yasselli,  assistant  to  the 
District  Attorney  for  the  Southern  District  of  New  York 
(formerly  captain  in  the  United  States  Army)  is  a  man 
of  parts ;  and  Stefano  Miele,  Grande  Venerabile  of  the 
Order  of  the  Sons  of  Italy  is  a  name  to  conjure  with. 
Other  names  that  have  secured  public  recognition  are 
ex-Judge  Palmieri  and  Michael  Rofrano,  ex-Deputy 
Street  Cleaning  Commissioner. 

In  medicine  it  is  possible  to  name  some  very  notable 
figures.  Of  these  one  of  the  best  known  is  un- 
questionably Antonio  Stella,  President  of  the  Roman 
Legion.  Dr.  Stella's  well-known  researches  in  the  socio- 
economic conditions  of  Italian-speaking  people  in  New 
York  City,  and  particularly  his  work  along  the  line  of 
tuberculosis  have  secured  for  him  a  well-merited  recogni- 
tion that  extends  beyond  local  confines ;  five  thousand 
Saint  Filesians  swear  by  Dr.  Tomasulo,  who  practises  on 
the  lower  West  Side ;  Dr.  Righi  of  Washington  Place  has 
a  claim  to  our  attention,  likewise  Drs.  Scimeca,  Previ- 
talis,  Cassola,  De  Vecchi,  DTserina,  Collica,  Legiardi- 
Laura,  Menna,  Osnato,  Siragusa,  Antonna.  Dr.  Rossano 
of  East  Harlem  is  exceedingly  well  known.  Dr.  Pisani, 
former  member  of  the  Board  of  Education  is  one  of  the 
best  known  doctors  of  Italian  blood  in  New  York  City, 
and  has  a  broad  liberal  viewpoint  in  socio-economic 
affairs  extending  beyond  that  of  his  own  people.     Dr. 


TO  AMERICAN  DEMOCRACY  121 

Savini  is  one  of  the  most  successful  surgeons  and  has 
an  enviable  reputation  secured  in  part  thru  his  successful 
operation  and  management  of  the  Washington  Square 
Hospital.  Doctors  Soresi  and  Parodi  combine  skill  and 
learning  to  an  unusual  degree,  the  one  in  the  field  of 
surgery  and  the  other  in  the  general  field  of  medicine. 
Dr.  J.  W.  Perrilli  is  exceedingly  well  liked.  He  is 
president  of  the  Italian  Hospital  and  a  member  of  the 
Board  of  Trustees  of  Bellevue  and  Allied  Hospitals.  Dr. 
C.  J.  Imperatori,  on  the  Bellevue  staff,  is  one  of  the 
best  surgeons  here.  Few  are  his  peers  in  skill  and 
learning.  During  the  war  he  served  as  a  lieutenant- 
colonel  with  the  American  Expeditionary  Forces.  As  a 
laryngolist  his  articles  in  the  medical  journals  are  read 
with  great  attention  and  respect.  Dr.  Imperatori  has 
set  a  mark  in  his  profession  which,  for  ItaHan  students 
in  particular,  is  worthy  of  emulation. 

Social  work  is  best  represented  by  Mrs.  Deferrari- 
Weygandt,  whose  forty  years  as  Principal  of  the  Italian 
School  have  given  her  an  unparalleled  opportunity  to 
see  pass  in  review  before  her  the  remarkable  changes  in 
economic  welfare  and  social  uplift  that  have  gone  apace 
with  the  incoming  of  so  many  thousands  of  Italian- 
speaking  children  in  the  lower  part  of  the  city.  Likewise 
Miss  Cafferata,  Head  Probationer  for  New  York  City 
has  been  thru  a  life-time  of  work  that  brought  her  into 
intimate  contact  with  Italian-speaking  people.  Mrs. 
Zunino,  wife  of  the  wealthy  manufacturer,  has  given  and 
today  gives  unstintingly  of  both  time  and  money  to  phi- 
lanthropic and  welfare  movements.  Mr.  Pizzarra,  Super- 
intendent of  the  Society  for  the  Prevention  of  Cruelty  to 
Children  of  this  city  and  Treasurer  of  the  Circolo  Na- 
zionale  Italiano  is  an  extremely  well-liked  individual,  old 
in  the  life  of  this  city.  Recently  Mary  A.  Frasca  was 
appointed  by  Mayor  Hylan  a  member  of  the  Board  of 
Child  Welfare.  Miss  Frasca  is  one  of  the  best  informed 
persons  on  social  and  economic  conditions  among  Italians 
in  this  city  and  a  splendid  worker. 

In  business  choices  again  are  difficult,  the  best  known 
being  Celestino  Piva,  whose  munificent  bequests  make 
possible  the  Italian  Hospital ;  Gerli,  Luigi  Solari,  Zunino, 


122  THE  ITALIAN  CONTRIBUTION 

Personeni,  Scaramelli,  President  of  the  Italian  Chamber 
of  Commerce,  Romeo,  Paterno,  Bosca,  DeNobili,  A.  Fer- 
rara  and  Antonio  Zucca.  Cav.  A.  Portfolio,  one  of  the 
youngest  of  the  older  generation  came  here  as  a  young 
boy  and  speedily  made  a  great  reputation  as  a  successful 
business  man.  But  more  important  perhaps  is  another 
distinction  that  has  attached  itself  to  his  name.  Here 
is  one  of  the  older  generation  that  has  succeeded  in  grip- 
ping completely  the  American  viewpoint  in  all  things  and 
his  contributions  to  social  welfare  and  educational  en- 
terprises among  both  Americans  and  Italians  alike  bring 
him  high  esteem.  A  recent  contribution  by  him  to  the 
Italian  Intercollegiate  Association  has  served  to  make 
possible  a  wide  scope  of  usefulness  for  this  organization. 
The  Di  Giorgio  brothers  are  also  very  prominent  in  the 
Italian  business  life  of  this  city.  They  are  well  liked 
and  Italians  are  proud  of  their  wonderful  achievements. 

In  banking,  the  two  names  Lionello  Perera,  62  Wall 
Street,  and  Joseph  Francolini,*  President  of  the  Italian 
Savings  Bank  stand  out  prominently.  Large  private 
banks  are  scattered  everywhere  and  are  numerous.  Gian- 
nini,  Sbarbaro,  Bernardini,  Verrilli  and  Liccione  are 
names  of  repute  attesting  honesty  and  integrity  and  in- 
spiring confidence  wherever  heard. 

In  finance  and  economics  Prof.  Vittorio  Racca  easily 
is  in  the  lead,  having  made  special  studies  on  the  socio- 
economic conditions  in  the  Balkans  for  several  European 
governments.  Dr.  Bonaschi,  executive  secretary  of  the 
Roman  Legion,  also  is  well  equipped  in  this  connection. 

Among  the  newspaper  men  the  names  of  Barsotti  and 
Frugone  rank  high ;  the  former  because  of  II  Progresso, 
the  latter  because  of  II  Bollettino.  Cantelmo  of  II  Gior- 
nale  Italiano  and  II  Telegrafo  is  exceedingly  well  known. 
Roversi  of  La  Follia,  and  Dr.  Vincent  Campora  of  Colum- 
bus have  also  large  foUowings.  Dr.  Campora  publishes  a 
very  effective  and  interesting  monthly  magazine.  Per- 
soneni has  put  forth  II  Cittadino ;  Di  Biasi  has  scored  a 
wonderful  success  with  II  Carroccio  which  is  the  leading 
periodical  of  its  kind  in  the  United  States;  Mr.  Toledo 

*  Deceased. 


TO  AMERICAN  DEMOCRACY  123 

also  publishes  a  very  successful  little  paper ;  Captain 
Marinelli  earned  some  recognition  with  L'ltalia  and 
finally  Mr.  Calitri  with  his  paper  and  Mr.  Pasella  with 
his  paper  La  Sardegna  are  worthy  of  mention.  Recently 
Pidala  has  put  forth  a  monthly  magazine  called  The 
Promptor  which  aims  to  cover  a  wide  cultural  field.  To 
these  names  must  be  added  that  of  Giordano,  who  has 
recently  acquired  control  of  II  BoUettino.  Mr.  Giordano 
and  his  brothers  are  doing  a  great  service  in  interpreting 
Italy  to  Americans.  Great  things  are  expected  of  them. 
Nor  is  Dr.  Marcucci  of  II  Progresso  to  be  forgotten. 

In  sociology  and  public  affairs  above  all  others  stands 
Dr.  Felice  Ferrero,  formerly  Director  of  the  Italian  Bu- 
reau of  Public  Information  in  New  York  City.  Dr.  Fer- 
rero has  a  grip  on  the  matters  that  come  within  his  prov- 
ince which  makes  it  possible  for  him  to  speak  both  elo- 
quently and  convincingly.  The  late  Carlo  Speranza  of 
Columbia  was  a  figure  which,  now  missing,  represents  an 
irreparable  loss ;  Dr.  Alberto  Pecorini  of  the  Springfield 
International  College  is  an  author  of  repute ;  Prof.  Dino 
Bigongiari  of  Columbia  is  well-versed  in  the  lore  of 
Dante  as  is  also  his  cousin  Gino  Bigongiari;  Enrico 
Cadorin  has  won  prominence  as  an  artist  as  well  as 
teacher ;  Prof.  Arbib-Costa  is  equalled  by  few  and  has 
written  a  text-book  in  Italian  representing  the  last  word 
in  matters  of  its  kind;  Prof.  Sergio  has  made  a  name 
for  himself  in  private  teaching.  The  present  Consul- 
General,  Romolo  Tritonj  is  a  scholar  as  well  as  a  dip- 
lomat and  he  brings  to  his  work  a  marked  native  ability 
that  has  earned  for  him  the  respect  of  all  who  have 
come  in  contact  with  him.  It  is  not  too  much  to  say  that 
he  has  been  the  most  well  liked  and  effective  represen- 
tative sent  to  us  by  the  Italian  government.  Italy 
would  do  well  to  send  others  of  his  type  to  us  in  other 
cities. 

In  music  the  names  are  so  numerous  that  only  a  few 
may  be  mentioned  here.  Caruso,  Galli-Curci,  Bonci, 
Titto  Ruffo  and  Amato  are  best  known ;  vv^hile  in 
this  field  one  can't  forget  Gatti-Casazza  and  the  younger 
impresario  Marinuzzi. 

In  public  life  New  York  City  has  a  few  whose  names 


124  THE  ITALIAN  CONTRIBUTION 

to-day  are  fairly  well  known.  Besides  Judge  Freschi 
whom  we  have  already  mentioned  there  is  former  Con- 
gressman Fiorello  H.  La  Guardia,  now  President  of  the 
Board  of  Aldermen  and  recent  representative  of  the 
United  States  Army  in  Italy;  State  Senator  Salvatore 
Cotillo,  member  of  the  Economic  Research  Commission 
recently  sent  by  the  United  States  to  Italy  to  report  on 
after-war  conditions  and  to  interpret  the  Italian  mind  to 
Americans ;  Caesar  Barra,  Charles  Novello,  Nicholas 
Pette  and  a  few  others  have  also  held  public  office  and 
gained  many  adherents.  Formerly  of  New  York  City  was 
Henry  Suzzalo,  now  President  of  the  University  of  Wash- 
ington ;  also  outside  of  New  York  City  are  Antonio  Cami- 
netti,  Commissioner-General  of  Immigration  and  Dr. 
Palmieri  of  the  Congressional  Library. 

In  army  life  a  host  of  men  have  come  here  because  of 
war  conditions  and  have  impressed  Americans  with  their 
ability,  viz.,  General  Guglielmotti  and  General  Tozzi,  head 
of  the  Italian  Military  Mission. 

Lieutenant  D'Annunzio,  brother  of  the  famous  poet, 
helped  in  the  manufacture  of  air  machines ;  the  Caproni 
brothers,  the  late  Resnati,  Gino,  Captain  Guardabassi 
are  among  the  best  known.  The  latter  is  one  of  the  most 
popular  Italians  who  has  ever  come  here. 

The  architect  Serracino,  the  engineer  Cavagnaro,  the 
engineer  and  well  known  professor  Prelini,  of  Manhat- 
tan College,  whose  text-books  have  been  universally 
accepted  as  the  last  word  in  the  specific  fields  of  engineer- 
ing they  cover,  Immediato  and  a  host  of  other  mis- 
cellaneous indivxiduals  whom  for  lack  of  space  we  omit, 
testify  to  the  high  place  that  these  people  of  Italian 
blood  representing  the  older  generation  have  made  for 
themselves  in  the  life  of  our  city. 

THE  YOUNGER  GENERATION— The  younger  gen- 
eration today  is  richer  in  its  possibilities  than  in  its  ac- 
tualities. In  talking  about  a  people  so  much  in  the 
present  as  are  these,  the  difficulty  is  encountered  that 
exists  when  one  is  making  statements  that  are  con- 
stantly being  changed  with  the  passing  of  each  day. 

In  religion  the  Catholics  have  the  comparatively  young 


TO  AMERICAN  DEMOCRACY  125 

Mgr.  Arcese  of  Kent  Avenue,  Brooklyn,  who  is  of  great 
promise;  for  the  Protestants  Emanuel  Chiesa  of  Drew 
Seminary,  winner  of  Phi  Beta  Kappa  honors,  prizes  in 
the  Greek  language,  etc.,  deserves  mention.  Rev.  Sar- 
torio  won  immediate  distinction  with  his  book  called 
"Social  and  Religious  Life  of  Italians  in  America." 

In  art  this  type  is  yet  in  its  struggling  stage,  and  while 
a  wide  smattering  of  art  talent  is  distinctly  visible,  real 
and  adequate  opportunity  for  what  may  be  called  full 
recognition  has  not  been  given.  It  is  true  that  the 
recent  response  for  artistic  talent  to  contribute  to  the 
creation  of  the  temporary  arch  for  returning  soldiers 
has  brought  forth  an  abundance  of  talent  of  Italian 
origin.  Of  fifteen  or  more  artists  engaged  in  the  design- 
ing of  this  arch  fully  eight  or  more  than  50  per  cent  were 
of  Italian-speaking  parentage.  For  instance  the  Picirilli 
brothers  were  engaged  on  the  quadriga  or  top  of  the  arch, 
Raphael  Memoni  modelled  its  general  architectural  fea- 
tures ;  in  various  other  features  were  engaged  F.  M.  L. 
Tonelli,  Ulysses  Ricci,  D.  Tosti  and  Philip  Martini. 

The  lists  become  full  again  when  we  come  to  educa- 
tion. In  the  universities  are  the  La  Guardia  brothers, 
one  at  the  University  of  Illinois,  the  other  at  the  Naval 
Academy,  both  products  of  Columbia  University  and  win- 
ners of  the  Phi  Beta  Kappa  key;  Colletti,  formerly  at 
the  University  of  South  Carolina,  also  holder  of  the  Phi 
Beta  Kappa  key  at  Columbia  and  winner  of  the  chief 
oratorical  prize  there ;  Tanzola,  teaching  in  the  Columbia 
Extension,  secured  the  signal  honor  of  winning  both  the 
arts  and  science  keys  in  the  same  institution;  Lipari  at 
Toronto ;  Bigongari  at  Columbia  ;  Di  Bartolo  at  Syracuse, 
later  at  the  University  of  Buffalo;  Passarelli  at  Cincin- 
nati ;  D'Amato  at  Shorter  College ;  Salvatore  of  Stevens 
Institute  of  Technology  and  Furia  at  New  York  Uni- 
versity, and  Carravachiol  at  Polytechnic  Institute  in 
Brooklyn,  are  all  Phi  Beta  Kappa  men. 

In  the  high  schools  of  this  city  a  galaxy  of  stars  are 
noticeable,  many  of  Phi  Beta  Kappa  ranking.  A  few  are 
Lieut.  Leonardo  Covello,  the  LapoUa  brothers,  de  Bar- 
baris,  Salzano,  Menna,  Viggiani,  Porcella,  Toglia,  Tor»- 
toro,  Vessa  —  and  so  the  list  could  be;  strung  out. 


126  THE  ITALIAN  CONTRIBUTION 

In  the  public  schools  the  list  would  be  even  larger. 
Those  who  have  attained  more  than  a  local  distinction 
are  Grande,  Lodato,  Cahtri,  Neg^ri,  Penque,  Marone, 
Vespa,  Milano,  Ansanelli,  Mirabella,  and  Frabbito. 

In  the  legal  profession  we  see  some  of  the  young 
Americans  of  Italian  extraction  who  unquestionably  are 
to  be  leaders.  Easily  before  them  all  stands  F.  R.  Serri, 
winner  of  all  the  debating  prizes  at  Yale,  formerly  con- 
tributing editor  on  the  financial  paper  "Commerce  and 
Finance";  Leonard  Sabbatino*  the  versatile  president  of 
the  Italian  Welfare  League,  is  also  of  promising-  material, 
as  is  Nicholas  Bucci,  Phi  Beta  Kappa  at  Columbia,  winner 
of  several  history  and  English  prizes,  formerly  on  the 
Columbia  Law  Review.  Sidney  Masone  is  one  who  is 
exceptionally  equipped  regarding  compensation  laws  be- 
cause of  his  connection  as  assistant  counsel  for  the  In- 
dustrial Commission ;  La  Corte  of  Elizabeth,  New  Jersey, 
bids  fair  to  become  a  big  factor  in  the  legal  life  of  his 
city;  Caruso  of  Newark,  Pascarella  of  Emerson,  New 
Jersey,  have  all  made  great  strides  forward  and  undoubt- 
edly will  be  prominent  and  indispensable  in  all  welfare 
movements  among  Italian-speaking  people  of  their  com- 
munities. Barbieri,  Cardone,  Gamaldi,  Di  Carlo,  Cerreta, 
Boccia,  Bongiorno,  Catinelli,  Alacchi,  Ricca,  Mottola, 
Zerilli,  Cuoco  and  Frank  Verrilli  are  others.  Ferdinand 
Pecora,  Assistant  District  Attorney,  has  made  an  ex- 
cellent reputation.  Miss  Grilli  of  the  New  York  Bar  is 
an  enterprising  worker  among  her  people  and  a  very  ef- 
fective leader. 

In  medicine  likewise  some  exceptionally  high-calibered 
men  are  coming  thru.  Representative  of  the  newer  gen- 
eration is  Dr.  W.  T.  M.  Liccione,  winner  of  both  the 
Arts  and  Medical  Fraternity  honors  and  an  ex-president 
of  the  Columbia  College  Circolo  Italiano,  who  bids 
fair  to  eclipse  the  average ;  Dr.  Vincent  Giliberti,  also 
from  Columbia  has  an  unusually  good  reputation  and  is 
now  on  the  staff  of  the  Metropolitan  Life;  Prof.  Croce 
of  Fordham  Medical  College,  Drs.  Mistretta,  Brancato, 
Mangione,  Martoccio,  Bonvicino,  Orlando,  John  D.  Ver- 
rilli, and  Salvatore  are  to  be  noted. 

*  Recently  appointed  an  Assistant  District  Attorney. 


TO  AMERICAN  DEMOCRACY  127 

In  social  work  the  names  are  fewer.  Ricciardi  of 
Cornell  has  made  some  headway  on  the  lower  West  Side ; 
Marra's  connection  with  the  Richmond  Hill  settlement 
brings  him  some  distinction ;  Armore,  President  of  the 
Italian  Intercollegiate  Association  has  always  displayed 
a  social-mindedness  beyond  the  ordinary ;  Cusimano  for- 
merly at  Lenox  Hill  and  Corsi  at  Harlem  House  are 
names  which  the  future  will  bring  to  the  fore  again  and 
again.  In  Queens,  James  Pasta  has  gained  a  large  fol- 
lowing and  made  a  unique  name  for  himself  in  the  public 
as  well  as  the  social  life  of  his  community  and  is  an 
individual  from  whom  great  things  are  expected. 

In  business  Marie  Frugone  daughter  of  the  former 
owner  of  II  BoUetino  is  tireless.  In  "advertising"  the 
name  Malisfini  attracts  great  attention  and  is  exceed- 
ingly well  known.  The  two  Conti  brothers  from  Colum- 
bia are  now  in  business. 

In  banking  few  of  the  younger  generation  are  worthy 
of  mention  because  they  have  drawn  so  far  apart  from 
the  immigrant  class  that  they  do  not  command  the  neces- 
sary confidence  to  attract  savings.  Again  those  that 
could  enter  this  profession  are  relatively  few  because  of 
the  necessity  for  an  initial  capital.  Of  the  newer  genera- 
tion, however,  most  important  is  the  fact  that  few  could 
enter  this  business  among  their  own  people  and  not  feel 
misplaced,  because  of  the  un-American  agencies  operat- 
ing within  the  immigrant  colonies  to-day  the  immigrant 
bank  is  one  of  the  most  important.  Two  names  however 
that  might  be  mentioned  for  this  class  are  Antonio 
Giovanazzi  and  Victor  Salvatore  who  is  manager  of  the 
Dykman  Street  branch  of  the  Corn  Exchange  Bank. 
The  first  instances  a  case  of  "rapprochement"  with  the 
"old  generation";  the  second  a  complete  break  from  it. 
Recently  Cotellesse  and  Garibaldi  La  Guardia  have  gone 
into  this  field. 

The  recent  war  has  brought  to  the  fore  the  aviators 
Lieut.  Gaipa  from  Rutgers,  Lieut.  Zunino  from  Prince- 
ton, Vaccaro  from  Harvard,  and  Aimee  from  Columbia. 
Major  Laguardia  and  Captain  Laguardja  have  both  been 
mentioned  before. 

In  sculpture,  Victor  Salvatore  has  carved  out  a  field 


128  THE  ITALIAN  CONTRIBUTION 

for  himself  which  brings  him  an  unusual  social  as  well 
as  professional  distinction.  He  first  began  to  win  dis- 
tinction at  the  age  of  fourteen,  when  at  the  St.  Louis 
Exposition  he  was  picked  by  St.  Gaudens  first  in  a  field 
of  many  competitors  and  awarded  first  prize. 

In  finance,  both  with  respect  to  its  theory  and  practice, 
Luigi  Criscuolo  has  no  peer  among  the  younger  Italian- 
speaking  generation.  His  articles  on  the  subject  are 
taken  as  authoritative  by  Americans  and  Italians  alike. 
He  is  the  financial  writer  for  the  Independent. 

In  public  life  no  place  of  any  moment  has  come  to  the 
younger  generation  that  carries  any  distinction  which 
extends  beyond  local  confines.  But  a  character  sketch  of 
one  individual  who  was  not  only  of  the  older  generation 
but  who  up  to  the  time  of  his  recent  death  was  essentially 
engaged  in  his  life  work  as  a  political  leader  among  the 
masses  of  his  people,  marking  him  distinctly  as  belong- 
ing to  the  younger  generation,  was  James  E.  March.  A 
recent  article  in  "The  Sun"  is  quoted  here  at  length 
because  of  the  clear  picture  it  gives  of  the  opportunity 
for  the  rise  and  development  of  an  individual  that  may 
any  day  be  achieved  by  other  Americans  of  Italian  ex- 
traction at  present  unknown : 

"James  E.  March,  Republican  leader  of  the  Third  As- 
sembly district,  who  died  recently,  found  in  America  the 
opportunity  wherby  he  was  transformed  from  Antonio 
Maggio,  peasant  immigrant,  into  an  American  possess- 
ing property  and  political  power.  No  one  ever  saw  Jimmy 
March  carrying  a  red  flag  or  heard  him  sneer  at  the  land 
into  which  he  passed  as  a  poor  boy  across  the  "Welcome" 
mat  at  Castle  Garden.  Thousands  of  other  immigrants 
were  stimulated  by  this  career. 

"He  landed  in  New  York  at  the  age  of  twelve  with  a 
harp  and  hopeful  disposition.  The  city  flustered  him,  so 
he  struck  into  the  country.  For  several  years  he  worked 
for  board  and  clothes  in  Lewis  County,  New  York.  His 
first  wages  he  got  for  peddling  milk  in  Lowville.  He 
studied  nights,  passed  the  Regents'  examination  at  the 
Lowville  Academy,  and  in  1880,  at  the  age  of  twenty,  re- 
turned to  New  York.  He  found  employment  with  the 
Erie  Railroad,  and  in  a  short  time  was  laying  the  founda- 


TO  AMERICAN  DEMOCRACY  129 

tion   for   a   fortune   as   the   Erie's   general   contracting 
agent. 

"March  employed  and  supervised  thousands  of  laborers 
working  on  the  railroad.  In  1882,  when  he  was  superin- 
tendent of  immigrant  trains  he  made  such  a  hit  by  stop- 
ping a  disastrous  longshoremen's  strike  that  $7,657  was 
raised  for  him  by  subscription. 

"By  this  time  Antonio  Maggio  had  become  James  E. 
March.  He  got  into  East  Side  politics  as  a  member  of 
Tammany  Hall,  but  after  a  break  with  the  then  Demo- 
cratic rulers,  caused  by  the  refusal  of  the  Irish  to  let 
Italians  hold  office,  he  went  over  to  the  Republicans  and 
took  his  following  along.  He  became  Republican  leader 
of  the  old  Sixth  Assembly  district,  now  the  Third,  which 
on  the  Democratic  side  was  ruled  by  the  Sullivans.  Gov. 
Roosevelt  made  him  Port  Warden  in  1899,  in  which 
period  March  was  credited  with  controlling  the  Italian- 
born  vote  on  the  entire  East  Side.  He  was  charged  with 
extortion  in  connection  with  the  employment  bureau  he 
conducted,  but  was  acquitted.  He  said  his  political  en- 
emies fabricated  the  accusation,  altho  License  Commis- 
sioner Keating  called  him  "the  Kingpin  of  Italian  pa- 
drones." 

"The  trouble  did  not  affect  his  political  popularity,  for 
of  the  thirty-nine  Presidential  Electors  for  New  York 
State  chosen  in  the  Roosevelt-Parker  campaign  of  1904 
Jimmy  March  got  the  highest  vote  859,533. 

"March  had  other  stormy  days  which  he  weathered. 
The  county  president  of  his  own  Republican  party,  Her- 
bert Parsons,  taxed  him  in  1908  with  being  too  friendly 
with  the  Tammany  Sullivans  and  refused  to  allow  the 
men  selected  by  March  to  act  as  inspectors  on  registra- 
tion day.  But  presently  Parsons  vanished  from  the 
political  stage  and  March  continued  to  rule  his  district 
as  of  old. 

"Thru  the  James  E.  March  Association  and  in  other 
ways  March  spent  a  good  deal  of  money  on  charity.  He 
was  a  member  of  the  Republican  and  Catholic  clubs  and 
the  Elks.  He  had  much  to  do  with  making  Columbus 
Day  a  legal  holiday." 

March  came  to  know  Roosevelt  so  well  that  the  ini- 


130  THE  ITALIAN  CONTRIBUTION 

mitable  Colonel  was  godfather  to  one  of  his  children.  If 
March  had  had  behind  him  a  systematic  education  he 
would  unquestionably  have  risen  to  a  position  of  national 
prominence  eclipsed  by  no  other  individual  of  Italian 
blood  in  America  either  of  the  past  or  in  the  present. 

RELATION  BETWEEN  THE  "OLD"  AND  "NEW" 
GENERATIONS— Frankly  stated  there  is  no  coming  to- 
gether between  the  "older"  and  "newer"  generations. 
There  are  many  reasons  for  this.  The  one  big  difference 
is  that  of  the  difference  in  culture.  A  little  less  important 
perhaps  is  the  element  of  language.  A  third  reason  that 
may  be  mentioned,  is  the  great  disparity  in  ages.  For  the 
most  part  the  type  indicated  as  belonging  to  the  older 
generation  does  its  business  in  the  Italian  language  and 
with  a  type  of  peoples  that  was  and  has  remained 
essentially  Italian.  The  newer  generation  unfortunately 
has  learned  too  hastily  to  scorn  what  is  done  or  said  in 
the  language  of  their  ancestors.  Many  other  contribut- 
ory causes  might  be  mentioned  if  one  wished  to  explain 
the  obvious  gap  that  exists. 

The  best  evidence  of  this  lack  of  co-operation  is  the 
way  different  institutions  are  formed  to  cater  to  the 
respective  tastes  and  social  needs  of  the  two  groups. 
There  is  no  Dante  Alighieri  Society  among  the  new  gen- 
eration, and  their  respect  and  sympathy  for  an  organiza- 
tion of  this  sort  is  not  great.  Nevertheless  that  they 
have  experienced  the  need  for  some  such  organization  is 
seen  in  the  Italian  Intercollegiate  Association — repre- 
senting an  attempt  to  bring  together  the  best  brains  of 
the  Italian  element  among  the  rising  generation  of 
Americans  of  Italian  blood.  Another  instance  of  the 
"hiatus"  is  the  Circolo  Nazionale,  now  the  Italian  Metro- 
politan Club,  by  the  older  generation.  For  this  organiza- 
tion to  be  a  success  it  is  necessary  that  they  have  come 
in  with  them,  if  not  the  entire  rank  and  file  of  the 
"newer"  generation,  at  least  their  leaders.  For  the  Ita- 
lian Metropolitan  Club  to  enjoy  a  continued  existence  it 
is  necessary  that  they  recruit  their  membership  from  the 
best  pick  of  the  rising  younger  generation.  In  short  it  is 
not  only  expedient  but  necessary  that  the  leaders  of  the 
"new"  generation  cooperate  with  the  "older"  so  that  the 


TO  AMERICAN  DEMOCRACY  131 

membership  of  the  younger  groupings  may  be  fed  into 
the  organizations  of  the  older  generation  and  thereby 
establish  continuity  in  an  organization  that  has  estab- 
lished its  right  to  existence  by  virtue  of  its  usefulness. 
Unfortunately  no  indication  for  this  "rapprochement"  is 
discernible. 

On  the  other  hand  what  has  occurred  is  this.  The  new 
generation  feeling  keenly  the  need  for  a  club  house  that 
would  make  social  intercourse  possible  have  their  plans 
completed  for  the  securing  of  an  entire  building  designed 
to  fulfill  their  social,  intellectual  and  recreational  needs. 
As  matters  stand  today  these  plans  are  fully  matured  and 
await  the  first  favorable  moment  to  actually  materialize. 

The  writer  who  is  conversant  with  the  situation  as  it 
exists  does  not  believe  that  in  this  split  or  division  of 
factors  as  it  were,  the  best  values  that  develop  thru  a 
sane  and  harmonious  cooperation  are  being  secured  by 
each  group.  It  seems  that  the  above  condition  is  a  pre- 
ventive to  any  intelligent  attempt  to  conduct  any  sus- 
tained cooperative  action  such  as  is  necessary  for  suc- 
cess. 

It  appears  that  the  old  generation  needs  the  new,  and 
that  this  is  the  need  thai:  will  continue  to  grow  with 
time.  Nevertheless  it  cannot  be  gainsaid  that  the  new 
generation  needs  the  old  if  they  wish  to  be  at  all  effect- 
ive. There  is  no  doubt  that  in  this  particular  instance  a 
great  deal  more  might  be  done  in  the  way  of  cooperation 
and  that,  measured  by  its  fruits,  the  cooperative  spirit 
among  Americans  of  Italian  extraction  has  netted  but 
little  that  is  today  permanently  and  commendably  visible. 
It  appears  that  only  by  presenting  a  united  front  will 
such  Americans  ever  be  able  to  command  respect  and 
compel  attention  to  the  more  crying  needs  of  a  social, 
economic,  educational,  recreational  nature  that  are  gap- 
ingly  open  in  Italian  districts.  In  doing  this  they  would 
be  but  imitating  what  the  older  Americans  of  Irish, 
Jewish  and  other  descents  have  done  before  them. 


132  THE  ITALIAN  CONTRIBUTION 

CHAPTER  XVI 
RECAPITULATION 

In  veiw  of  all  the  foregoing  can  there  be  said  to  exist 
an  Italian  psychology  for  these  Americans  of  Italian  line- 
age in  America,  and  can  it  be  said  to  be  objectionable? 
We  hear  much  about  Italian  psychology  and  have  been 
impressed  with  its  difference  from  our  own.  Have  we 
been  over-impressed?  We  have  seen  that  the  mental 
traits  described  above  are  not  a  thing  "sui  generis"  with 
these  Americans  of  Italian  blood,  but  are  universal.  What 
were  represented  were  race  lines  it  is  true,  but  lines  cut 
across  by  individual  differences.  No  true  psychology 
holds  that  racial  qualities  do  not  exist,  but  neither  does 
it  make  a  fetish  of  such  differences.  The  important  thing 
for  us  here  is  that  psychological  traits  are  primarily 
individual ;  only  when  taken  collectively  do  they  become 
racial.  Today  psychologists  agree  that  "intra-group" 
differences  are  greater  than  **inter-group"  differences. 

The  traits  described  run  through  the  entire  gamut  of 
possible  mental  reactions  from  the  very  high  and  most 
commendable  to  the  very  low  and  most  deprecatory  of 
all  the  strains  that  enter  into  American  life  showing 
"high  variability"  to  be  one  of  the  outstanding  features 
of  the  mental  life  of  the  Italian.  The  contention  made 
here  though,  and  maintained  throughout  is  that  from 
the  standpoint  of  race  no  significant  differences  exist 
between  these  and  other  individuals  of  other  racial  des- 
cents. Races  do  differ.  Mental  and  even  moral  dif- 
ferences do  exist,  but  whether  we  may  conclude  from 
this  that  these  differences  denote  superiority  or  inferior- 
ity is  not  the  same  question.  It  has  been  said  that  the 
races  making  up  our  "new"  immigration  (and  this  in- 
cludes the  Italian)  lack  the  innate  capacity  of  self- 
government.  If  this  is  so,  then  the  words  of  Sir  Horace 
Plunkett  are  apropos  namely  "if  any  race  is  lacking  in 
the  powers  of  self-government  than  what  that  race  needs 
most  is  self-government." 

The  Irish,  Italians,  English  and  French  differ  in  art, 
language,  literature  and  science.    As  Giddings  says,  "the 


TO  AMERICAN  DEMOCRACY  133 

Italian  is  notoriously  a  man  relatively  interested  in  the 
plastic  arts  by  comparison  with  the  Swedes  or  Nor- 
wegians. On  the  stage  the  Neapolitan  is  different  from 
a  Finn  or  a  Dane  whether  you  saw  or  heard  him.  As 
good  an  approach  to  this  analysis  as  anything  else  is  to 
mention  at  the  beginning  certain  commonly  noticed 
reactions.  The  Italians  have  been  notoriously  successful 
in  painting,  sculpture  and  art  in  general.  Northern 
people  are  not  notoriously  successful  in  these  things. 
Northern  peoples  are  notoriously  dramatic,  emotional 
and  imaginative  ;  instance  the  great  tales  of  Siegfried, 
the  marvellous  dramatic  feelings  of  the  Icelandic  Tales, 
the  dramatic  qualities  of  German  opera,  of  Wagner,  Bach 
and  of  Niebelungen." 

"The  central  people,  the  Slavs  are  almost  equally  no- 
torious in  literature.  Especially  are  the  great  Russian 
novelists  noted  for  the  feelings  associated  with  the 
homely  affairs  of  life  in  sentimental  qualities  tho  not 
in  the  gushy  sense  and  the  entirely  different  reactions 
toward  the  tragedies  of  life  in  the  novels  of  Dostoievsky 
Tolstoy  and  Turgeneff — all  differing  from  the  North- 
western dramatists.  Evidently  there  is  no  mixing  of 
these  two." 

"The  Irish  and  Welsh  Tales,  the  Arthurian  legend  in 
England  and  the  legendary  Tales  of  Scotland  form  an- 
other different  type.  Nor  can  we  easily  confuse  the  deli- 
cate play  of  fancy  in  the  fairy  tales  of  Ireland  with  the 
play  of  imagination  in  the  Danish  tales  and  the  tales  of 
the  Rhine  region." 

"Which  is  highest  and  which  is  lowest  cannot  be  an- 
swered directly,  if  answered  at  all.  The  outstanding  fact 
is  that  these  cultures  are  different.  Are  the  causes  in 
the  blood  or  are  they  due  to  environment  and  training? 
Psychologists  are  still  at  loggerheads  in  their  definition 
of  instinct.  No  one  will  disagree  if  we  say  that  by 
instinct  we  mean  certain  complexes  of  reactions  that  are 
innate,  that  are  already  there  and  don't  have  to  be 
learned  by  trial  and  error  processes,  and  represent  the 
equipment  with  which  the  individual  is  born."* 

*Giddings,  F.  H.  Lectures  in  Inductive  Sociology  (Columbia 
University,  1915). 


134  THE  ITALIAN  CONTRIBUTION 

If  the  differences  we  observed  between  races  like  the 
ItaHans  and  the  Anglo-Saxon  are  inherited  instincts  in 
the  blood,  then  the  only  way  to  change  the  American 
of  Italian  extraction  is  by  synthetization,  thru  marriage ; 
not  by  school  systems,  political  parties  or  religious  insti- 
tutions. It  is  yet  to  be  found  whether  these  differences 
that  we  observed  between  the  Italian  race  and  other 
races  with  regard  to  literature,  art,  politics,  etc.,  are 
instinctive  or  a  result  of  habit. 

Meanwhile  it  would  not  be  unwise  to  continue  with 
these  peoples  on  the  assumption  that  their  contribution 
is  something  desirable  and  to  assist  them  in  every  way 
to  make  it  possible  for  them  to  contribute  their  greatest 
possible  portion  in  the  great  task  of  the  evolution  of  a 
stable  American  type. 

Italy  in  the  past  has  contributed  mightily  to  the  en- 
lightenment of  the  world  and  the  march  of  civilization. 
This  contribution  has  been  expressed  by  the  editor  of  the 
National  Geographic  Magazine  as  follows :  "Italy,  the 
mother  of  civilization,  of  art  and  of  science  and  the 
cradle  of  intellectual  liberty  began  fighting  the  invaders 
from  the  North  one  thousand  years  before  the  discovery 
of  America.  She  has  given  to  the  world  Marcus  Aure- 
lius,  Dante,  Columbus,  John  Cabot,  Leonardo  De  Vinci, 
Galileo  and  in  more  recent  times  Volta,  Galvani,  Gari- 
baldi, Verdi  and  Marconi. 

"Just  as  the  new  world  was  given  to  civilization  by 
her  great  navigators  Columbus  and  Cabot  so  were  the 
infinite  realms  of  space  revealed  to  man  thru  the  gift  of 
the  telescope  from  Galileo  that  monumental  genius  who 
also  helped  to  perfect  the  compound  microcospe  which 
made  modern  medicine  and  modern  chemistry  possible. 
Likewise  it  was  Marconi's  gift  of  wireless  telegraphy 
which  makes  the  observation  airplane  a  truly  potent 
factor  in  battle." 

"One  of  the  marvels  of  human  history  is  this  extra- 
ordinary Italian  race  that  for  two  thousand  years  has 
blessed  the  world  with  a  succession  of  geniuses,  musi- 
cians, authors,  creations  of  inspiration  and  advancement 
from  which  all  other  people  have  benefited."* 

♦The  Italian  Race,  National  Geographic  Magazine,  January, 
1918,  p.  47. 


TO  AMERICAN  DEMOCRACY  135 

So  much  for  civilization,  art  and  science.  In  govern- 
ment the  same  holds  true.  Prof.  Giddings  in  dissipating 
the  notions  that  the  foundations  of  modern  democratic 
society  together  with  everything  really  great  and  worth 
while  in  our  social  system,  political  life  and  international 
influence,  had  their  origins  in  the  German  forests  and 
were  carried  over  by  Angles,  Jutes  and  Saxons  to  Eng- 
land supplanting  all  other  civilizations  including  Roman — • 
declaring  this  to  be  a  stupendous  myth  said :  "that  there 
was  nothing  inherent  in  the  Teutonic  system  or  its 
origins  that  proved  adequate  to  creating  a  nation  polit- 
ically unified,  competent  and  coherent.  As  a  matter  of 
fact  no  such  nation  was  ever  created  until  created  by 
the  genius  of  a  man  who  owed  nothing  to  the  tradition 
and  habits  of  Teutonic  thought ;  that  the  men  with  him 
who  went  to  the  British  Isles  helping  to  create  a  co- 
herent and  enduring  system  were  largely  in  blood  Celtic 
and  Mediterranean  and  were  trained  in  the  traditions  of 
Roman  political  organization  and  Roman  law  and  took 
these  traditions  and  ideas  to  Brittany  and  evolved  the 
whole  system  of  Federal  political  organization  combin- 
ing centralized  control  with  local  independence  and  self- 
government,  in  fact  the  whole  structure  and  characteris- 
tics of  British  Imperialism  and  the  Federal  system  of 
the  United  States  —  all  this  was  never  dreamed  of  by 
the  Teutonic  mind.  It  was  the  invention  of  the  Roman 
mind.  If  any  original  people  were  endowed  with  polit- 
ical genius  it  is  not  the  English  or  the  Teuton.  It  is  the 
Italian."* 

The  Italian  comes  here  and  brings  to  our  shores  a 
strong  hardihood  of  physique  that  is  rarely  excelled.  His 
temperament  is  of  that  buoyant,  joyful,  optimistic  kind 
that  makes  life  at  all  times  seem  very  interesting.  As 
Dean  Keppel  of  Columbia  told  the  writer  "the  Italian  is 
a  boon  companion,  is  always  well-liked,  because  he  is 
happy,  optimistic,  light-spirited  and  has  that  artistic 
intellectuality  which  we  Americans  of  older  generations 
lack  and  is  always  surprising  us  with  his  apparently  in- 

*  Giddings,  Franklin  H.,  Columbia  University  Lectures — "His- 
tory of  Civilization,"  1916. 


136  THE  ITALIAN  CONTRIBUTION 

exhaustible  abundance  of  optimism,  enthusiasm  and  joy 
of  living.* 

They  add  also  a  strong  sympathetic  nature  based 
perhaps  upon  the  intense  appreciation  of  family  life  and 
family  ties,  the  spirit  of  which  the  child  of  Italian 
parentage  has  had  early  inculcated  within  him.  But  this 
is  not  all.  There  is  also  an  innate  effervescent  sponta- 
neity flowing  as  much  perhaps  from  the  "high  variabil- 
ity" inherent  in  the  fundamental  capacities  of  the  race 
as  from  anything  else.  Italians  are  apt  to  be  very  good 
or  very  bad  —  the  ratio  of  mediocrity  is  as  low  within 
this  race  as  it  is  anywhere  else  in  the  world.  This  alone 
means  an  elevated  ratio  of  "high  variability."  When  we 
consider  that  human  progress  is  measured  largely  by 
the  achievements  of  the  few  at  the  top  or  upper  levels  — 
rather  than  by  the  mass  compromising  the  average,  we 
see  the  significance  of  the  above. 

We  can  now  understand  how  out  of  this  fertile  soil  of 
brilliancy,  genius  and  inventiveness  of  a  nervous,  varia- 
ble, emotional  and  artistic  type  can  crop  out  a  Dante,  a 
Da  Vinci,  a  Raphael,  a  Michael  Angelo,  a  Galileo  or  com- 
ing down  to  more  modern  times  a  Columbus,  a  Cavour, 
and  a  Marconi. 

Undoubtedly  the  capacities  for  entertaining  the  same 
ideas,  or  experiencing  like  emotions,  of  feeling  similar 
sentiments,  of  striving  for  desirable  ends,  are  universal. 
But  nevertheless  we  think,  feel  and  act  differently  as 
races.  For  the  kind  of  proportions  and  degrees  of  re- 
lationships that  obtain  between  combinations  of  different 
ideas  and  emotions  "varies  from  individual  to  individual 
as  it  varies  from  race  to  race."  A  student  of  racial  psy- 
chology therefore  will  not  find  his  attitude  with  respect 
to  the  uniformity  of  germinal  potentialities  irreconcil- 
able or  even  oft"ended  by  the  numerous  patent  demon- 
strations of  individual  differences  existing  alongside  of 
racial  characteristics.  Differences  intra-groups  can  be 
and  perhaps  are  greater  than  differences  inter-groups. 

One  sees  that  the  idealistic  enthusiasms  of  the  Italian- 
American  is  something  "sui-generis"  and  he  feels  as  if 

*  Keppel,  F.  P. — "The  Italian  at  Columbia."  The  Italian  In- 
tercollegiate, Vol.  1,  p.  8. 


TO  AMERICAN  DEMOCRACY  137 

there  was  more  cheerfulness  in  it  than  is  apparent  in  the 
usual  American  idealism.  One  reason  is  because  it 
represents  a  freer  attitude  towards  certain  traditions  of 
American  life.  Outwardly  at  least  it  contains  a  larger 
dose  of  healthy  sentiment.  It  follows  more  closely  lines 
of  friendship  and  loyalty.  It  talks  more  of  sympathy. 
Its  greater  passion  seems  more  suited  to  general  con- 
cepts and  inclusive  principles.  It  has  a  gaiety  all  its  own. 
With  a  cohesivity  of  sentiment  and  yet  a  flexibility  of 
motive  for  all  that,  it  combines  into  a  paradox,  which 
only  the  naive  nonchalance  of  the  light-hearted  Latin 
has  been  able  to  systematically  set  aside  while  playing 
with  it  at  the  risk  of  being  crushed. 

As  Bagot  puts  this  paradox,  the  American  of  Italian 
birth  springs  from  a  people  for  the  most  part  forming  a 
peasant  class  that  is  skeptical,  suspicious,  intensely 
shrewd  and  "while  not  infrequently  egoistic  yet  extra- 
ordinarily disinterested  and  generous."  * 

Universal  education,  as  we  have  it  to-day  in  our 
American  democracy,  is  the  greatest  of  levellers,  and 
the  American  of  Italian  extraction  is  showing  by  his  re- 
actions in  our  public  school  system  how  responsive  he  is 
to  all  that  is  really  American. 

*  Bagot,  Richard,  Italians  of  Today,  p.  36. 


138  THE  ITALIAN  CONTRIBUTION 

PART   IV 

SOCIAL   ORGANIZATION 

CHAPTER   XVII 

INTRODUCTION 

DEFINITION  OF  TERMS— The  term  "social  organ- 
ization" is  essentially  sociological  and  it  is  in  this  sense 
that  is  used  throughout  in  this  study.  The  economical, 
educational,  poHtical,  esthetic  and  reHgious  interests  of  a 
group  serve  to  unify  themselves  about  some  central  pur- 
pose or  object.  We  speak  of  this  object  when  crystal- 
lized in  institutions  as  denoting  a  form  of  "social  organi- 
zation" and  use  it  to  distinguish  the  degree  of  complexity 
effected  with  all  of  the  above  elements  joined  and  also, 
though  only  incidentally,  to  include  the  grade  or  merit 
with  which  we  regard  the  associational  character  of  any 
such  stratum  of  life. 

BASIS  OF  CLASSIFICATION— It  is  well  to  explain 
here  the  basis  for  the  classification  of  the  different  types 
of  organization  described.  In  no  sense  is  it  to  be  under- 
stood that  because  an  organization  is  listed  as  an  "ath- 
letic club,"  is  partakes  of  nothing  that  is  of  a  "civic"  or 
"religious"  character.  On  the  contrary  the  opposite 
may  very  well  be  the  case.  For  instance  the  Ozanam 
Association  is  listed  as  a  "religious  club,"  yet  to  all  out- 
ward appearances  this  club  does  everything  that  it  ath- 
letic and  social  and  nothing  that  is  "religious." 

All  of  the  organizations  to  be  described  exist  then  for 
a  multiplicity  of  purposes  and  serve  their  members  in 
many  different  ways.  A  constant  overlapping  of  func- 
tion exists  in  all.  But  in  every  case  there  is  some  one 
major  activity  or  purpose  that  the  group  as  an  organiza- 
tion is  designated  to  promote  or  at  least  to  which  it  owes 
its  existence  and  it  is  this  activity  that  serves  as  the 
basis  for  the  classifications  herein  made. 

It  is  also  understood  that  the  list  of  names  under  any 
one  type  of  organization  scheduled,  unless  so  stated,  is 


TO  AMERICAN  DEMOCRACY  139 

illustrative  and  not  exhaustive.  It  has  been  manifestly 
impossible  to  make  a  list  that  would  include  all  of  these 
groupings  of  individuals,  in  some  cases  including  as  few 
as  five  or  six  individuals,  nevertheless  to  whom  the  term 
league  or  association  has  been  applied.  Often  in  the 
groups  selected  no  outward  indication  exists  to  show 
that  all  or  even  the  majority  of  the  members  composing 
it  are  of  Italian  blood. 

It  has  been  noticed  that  as  a  rule  the  type  of  organiza- 
tion here  listed  reflects  closely  and  corresponds  to  the 
type  of  minds  described,  i.  e.,  we  find  that  it  is  the 
"tenement"  or  "settlement"  type  that  is  forming  what  I 
have  termed  the  "athletic"  and  the  "social"  club;  the 
"Y.  M.  C.  A."  or  "college"  type  that  is  forming  the  "edu- 
cational circolo";  and  the  professional  type  that  is  en- 
gaged in  organizing  the  "welfare  league"  or  "associa- 
tion." It  will  also  be  noticed  that  organizations  are 
described  which  in  structure  and  function  are  in  no  way 
similar  to  institutions  or  organizations  to  be  found 
among  immigrants  proper.  The  reason  for  this  is  two- 
fold: (1)  the  types  of  organization  described  are  products 
of  Americans  who  are  operating  in  an  American  envi- 
ronment; (2)  the  aims  of  these  organizations  are  dia- 
metrically opposed  to  the  aims  of  immigrant  institutions 
because  they  reflect  the  different  needs  and  tastes  of  a 
different  people. 


140  THE  ITALIAN  CONTRIBUTION 

CHAPTER   XVIII 

TYPES   OF  ORGANIZATION 

THE   SOCIAL  CLUB 

PARTICULAR  GROUP— The  most  spontaneous  and 
perhaps  the  most  influential  type  of  grouping  that  exists 
in  the  more  thickly  populated  Italian  colonies  is  the 
''social  club."  It  is  inevitable  that  individuals  of  the 
class  composing  the  "tenement"  or  "settlement"  type 
form  little  groups  by  themselves.  It  frequently  happens 
that  in  a  small  area  of  two  square  blocks  there  may  be 
four  nuclei  of  groups  or  cliques  that  meet  together  and 
act  for  the  most  part  independently  of  each  other. 

Each  such  nucleus,  while  all  the  members  composing 
it  are  known  to  each  other  by  sight  at  least,  acts  for  all 
cooperative  purposes  as  a  community  within  a  com- 
munity, invariably  forming  itself  into  a  club  for  purposes 
that  at  first,  at  any  rate,  are  largely  social  and  recrea- 
tional. It  would  be  impossible  to  list  or  even  to  designate 
the  actual  number  of  such  existing  groups.  A  good  many 
of  them  have  a  mushroom  growth  —  springing  up  over 
night  as  it  were  —  only  to  pass  quickly  away  for  some 
slight  or  insignificant  reason. 

The  writer  strolled  along  Mulberry  Street,  which  is 
the  main  artery  of  the  large  Italian  colony  downtown  on 
the  East  Side  and  noticed  placards  proclaiming  the 
existence  of  at  least  thirty  such  clubs  as  fall  within  this 
category,  all  within  the  short  space  of  four  blocks.  The 
names  of  such  clubs  are  extremely  varied.  Samples 
taken  at  random  in  the  Italian  colony  include  the  Sixth 
Ward,  Rose,  Downtown,  Emerson,  Huskies,  Caldwell, 
etc.  Clubs  forming  in  settlements  adopt  names  of  a 
softer  tone  such  as  the  Violets,  Mazzini  Circle,  Ken- 
mare,  Jupiter,  etc. 

For  our  purposes  it  will  be  illuminating  to  go  into  the 
origin  of  one  of  these  clubs  which  practically  is  the 
history  of  a  goodly  average,  and  describe  in  detail  its 
program  and  execution. 


TO  AMERICAN  DEMOCRACY  141 

The  particular  group  studied  in  this  connection  is  one 
of  the  worst  of  its  kind  and  therefore  for  our  purposes 
best  and  is  located  in  the  large  Italian  colony  just  off  the 
Five  Points  section.  The  "Huskies  Association"  exerts 
a  powerful  influence  upon  the  tenement  element  of 
Americans  of  Italian  extraction  in  and  about  Mulberry- 
Bend  Park.  It  was  organized  in  1914  and  the  members 
having  no  rooms  of  their  own,  meet  at  the  quarters  of 
the  Sixth  Ward  Social  Club  located  at  16  Bowery.  About 
eighteen  members  all  of  Italian  extraction  make  up  the 
group.  A  "Husky"  in  the  vernacular  of  the  street  is  a 
"bum"  or  as  they  themselves  say  "one  who  won't  work." 
When  they  desire  to  be  facetious  they  call  themselves 
"the  Sons  of  Rest." 

The  strange  thing  about  this  club  is  that  it  has  no 
organization  or  written  constitution  and  holds  no  regular 
meetings.  One  individual  is  the  recognized  leader  and 
bosses  the  "gang."  Nor  are  any  dues  paid.  The  me- 
chanics of  organization  are  reduced  to  a  skeleton. 

TYPES  OF  MEMBERS— The  ages  of  the  members  of 
the  Husky  Association  range  from  twenty  to  thirty 
years.  One  third  are  married.  The  majority  are  em- 
ployed as  truckmen,  dock-helpers,  chauffeurs,  etc.  They 
have  had  a  smattering  of  education  in  the  public  schools 
and  speak  little  Italian.  To  the  last  man  the  members 
are  Americans,  say  they  are,  and  are  proud  of  it.  Being 
self-governing  the  members  require  a  certain  amount 
of  free  spending  money  for  organization  and  individual 
activities.  In  age  the  members  of  such  groups  are  rarely 
less  than  eighteen. 

TYPES  OF  ACTIVITY— The  pleasures  that  these 
clubs  afford  are  exactly  what  this  type  of  member  seeks 
—  pleasures  of  a  sensory  and  motory  kind.  This  is  dis- 
played in  the  most  frequent  diversions  that  the  group 
as  an  organization  conducts;  namely,  dances  and  out- 
ings. On  such  occasions  the  members  invite  their  friends. 
For  the  most  part  the  radius  of  the  circle  of  friends  is 
limited  to  those  living  in  the  immediate  neighborhood 
or,  as  in  other  clubs  those  working  in  the  same  shop. 

The  personal  characteristics  of  this  type  reflect  in  a 
very  large  measure  the  limited  degree  of  opportunity 


142  THE  ITALIAN  CONTRIBUTION 

in  life  from  an  educational  and  financial  standpoint  that 
these  people  enjoy.  Of  very  limited  schooling  their  type 
of  organization  and  of  pleasures  shows  instability  and 
simplicity.  Their  enjoyments  reflect  pleasures  of  the 
moment  and  of  the  senses  rather  than  of  the  mind.  One 
writer  says  of  them,  "It  is  these  children  of  the  Italians 
who  in  their  untoward  enthusiasm  for  things  American 
despise  the  ways  of  their  fathers  and  lose  their  love  for 
Italy  and  their  pride  in  their  Italian  blood." 

RELATION  AND  EFFECT  OF  ORGANIZATION  TO 
COMMUNITY — It  is  safe  to  say  that  the  hiatus  between 
the  two  generations  i.  e.,  the  older  and  the  younger,  is 
nowhere  so  marked  nor  are  the  lines  drawn  anywhere 
so  sharply  as  they  are  in  this  case.  The  interests  of  a 
club  such  as  this  street  club  in  no  way  coincide  with 
those  belonging  to  the  older  half  of  the  community.  In 
many  cases  the  money  that  is  spent  by  the  younger  gen- 
eration in  the  enjoyments  of  the  organization's  activities 
is  far  more  than  what  is  salutary.  Usually  it  is  obtained 
at  the  expense  of  not  contributing  to  the  home  or  main- 
tenance of  a  proper  standard  of  living  in  the  home  of 
which  the  older  generation  forms  a  part. 

As  we  have  seen  the  intellectual  character  of  such  an 
organization  is  reduced  to  a  minimum  if  it  is  not  alto- 
gether nil.  The  community  suffers  rather  than  gains 
because  of  its  existence  as  no  relation  or  coordination  of 
any  description  exists  with  these  bodies  either  among 
themselves  or  with  other  institutions  excepting  with 
bar-rooms  and  pool-parlors.  Such  groups  exist  apart 
with  purely  individual  interests,  are  temporary  in  char- 
acter and  serve  to  generate  a  narrow  individualism 
among  the  members. 

Organization  is  on  a  small  scale  and  the  ends  such 
an  organization  serves,  it  is  to  be  readily  seen,  are  im- 
mediate and  sensory.  Little  opportunity  is  afforded  to 
provoke  intelligent  discussion,  stimulate  foresight  or 
ambition,  afford  practice  in  self-control  and  participa- 
tion in  the  ends  that  lie  outside  of  self. 

One  important  feature  this  kind  of  organization  offers 
its  members  is  practice  in  self-management  and  club- 
procedure.     The   Nameoka   Club   for  instance   conducts 


TO  AMERICAN  DEMOCRACY  143 

meetings  in  regular  parliamentary  procedure.  Members 
are  made  to  respect  law  and  order  in  meetings  at  least. 
Such  meetings  are  a  miniature  or  copy  of  what  they 
meet  with  and  encounter  in  the  local  ward  political  club. 
In  fact,  these  social  clubs  afford  excellent  material  to  be 
used  by  the  ward  politicians  for  campaign  purposes. 

To  a  very  great  extent  this  organization  is  a  result 
of  the  conditions  within  which  the  American  of  Italian 
extraction  lives.  It  is  his  effort  to  express  himself.  Too 
often  of  course  are  seen  the  effects  of  inadequate  leader- 
ship. The  community  exercises  no  influence  on  such  a 
club  because  there  is  no  community  spirit  or  organiza- 
tion nor  has  there  ever  been  any.  Neither  has  the  club 
anything  to  offer  the  community  except  its  perverted 
instincts.  The  club's  sole  reason  for  existence  is  to 
afford  its  members  pleasure. 

Such  organizations  under  different  names  can  be  du- 
plicated in  every  one  of  the  Italian  colonies  scattered 
thruout  the  Greater  City,  wherever  there  is  a  tenement 
population  and  where  the  prevailing  type  of  adult  worker 
is  the  immigrant.  But  the  identity  does  not  cease  with 
the  Italian.  The  duplication  is  possible  also  in  the  Jew- 
ish, Irish,  German  and  Bohemian  quarters  of  the  city, 
and  was  more  true  in  the  past  than  in  the  present.  If  it 
is  permitted  one  to  pass  a  judgment  it  is  a  condition  that 
in  the  future  will  be  duplicated  in  the  Greek  and  Polish 
quarters  of  our  city.  It  would  seem  therefore  that  there 
is  nothing  in  this  description  of  the  Italian  quarter  and 
the  social  organization  therein  effected  among  Ameri- 
cans of  Italian  extraction  that  is  peculiar  to  this  type  or 
is  a  thing  "sui  generis."  It  is  rather  a  reflection  of  the 
character  or  nature  of  the  more  general  American  social 
organization  into  which  this  type  of  American  has  to  fit 
himself.  This  condition  is  American  or  un-American  just 
as  we  may  wish  to  look  at  it;  it  is  not  related  to  or 
similar  to  anything  European  or  foreign. 

THE  ATHLETIC  CLUB 

PARTICULAR  GROUP— This  type  of  organization 
that  I  have  labelled  "athletic  club"  resembles  in  many 

ways  the  larger  and  more  well-knowin  organisations  of 


144  THE  ITALIAN  CONTRIBUTION 

a  type  similar  to  the  New  York  Athletic  Club,  the  Mo- 
hawk Athletic  Club,  the  Pastime  Athletic  Club,  etc., 
excepting  that  the  organization  that  we  shall  describe 
and  those  similar  to  it  are  conducted  on  a  very  much 
smaller  scale. 

The  fact  is  significant  that  despite  the  well-known 
place  that  athletes  of  Italian  extraction  have  made  for 
themselves  in  the  fields  of  sport,  no  large  athletic  club 
exists  catering  exclusively  to  them,  upon  purely  racial 
lines.  This  is  so  because  first  it  shows  a  subordination  of 
things  Italian  to  those  American,  and  argues  for  the 
fact  that  so  thoro  has  been  the  absorption  that  a  separate 
organization  is  not  needed;  second,  in  organization  as 
well  as  in  function  we  have  a  splendid  instance  of  team 
play. 

At  the  same  time  there  is  a  distinct  resemblance  be- 
tween the  "athletic"  club  we  are  describing  here  and  the 
"social"  club  previously  talked  about.  In  its  earlier 
stages  the  sole  difference  is  the  nature  of  the  pleasure 
sought  —  a  difference  not  over  great  —  motor  not  sen- 
sory pleasure  being  that  which  is  chiefly  sought. 

In  numbers  these  clubs  are  not  so  numxcrous  as  the 
others.  The  main  reason  for  this  is  that  there  are  not 
so  many  individuals  who  have  the  time  necessary  to 
become  proficient  in  any  one  sport,  to  feel  repaid  for 
following  it  intensively ;  secondly  there  is  the  fact  that 
upon  becoming  proficient  such  member  shifts  his  center 
of  interest  from  the  "local"  athletic  club  (maintained 
along  race  lines)  to  one  of  the  larger  "athletic"  clubs 
uptown  mentioned  above. 

We  take  for  our  particular  grouping  as  being  repre- 
sentative of  this  type  the  Nameoka  Athletic  Club.  Its 
meeting  place  is  at  326  Canal  Street.  Located  as  it  is  in 
the  vicinity  of  Chinatown  its  membership  includes  several 
Americans  of  Chinese  extraction  representing  offspring 
of  mixed  parentage.  The  name  Nameoka  was  chosen 
because  of  the  admiration  that  the  members  have  for 
the  athletic  prowess  of  the  Indians.  It  was  incorporated 
in  1904.  The  club's  constitution  says  that  the  organiza- 
tion is  designed  **to  provide  for  the  social,  physical  and 


TO  AMERICAN  DEMOCRACY  145 

educational  welfare  of  its  members  and  to  promote  ath- 
letics in  general." 

The  club  started  its  existence  at  80  Lafayette  Street 
but  eventually  as  "business"  crept  into  the  district  they 
were  forced  to  move  and  to  locate  in  a  more  residential 
section.  The  club  moved  to  Canal,  corner  of  Hester 
Street  where  it  occupies  the  entire  two  upper  floors  using 
these  as  meeting  rooms  and  gymnasium. 

The  war  depleted  the  membership  greatly,  eighty- 
seven  out  of  one  hundred  and  two  joining  "the  colors," 
leaving  but  a  remnant  to  conduct  its  various  activities. 
Dues  are  fifty  cents  a  month  and  meetings  are  held 
regularly  once  a  month.  Members  are  employed  chiefly 
as  follows ;  machinists,  electricians,  carpenters,  linotype 
operators,  plumbers,  business  men,  policemen,  firemen, 
municipal  and  government  employees,  post-oflice  clerks 
and  postal  carriers.  Most  of  the  members  have  a  com- 
mon school  education ;  about  twenty  had  completed  high 
school,  and  a  bare  half  dozen  had  entered  college.  All, 
with  the  exception  of  three  were  citizens.  This  particu- 
lar group  is  composed  of  Americans  of  Italian  extraction 
85  per  cent  of  whose  parents  are  Genoese. 

The  chief  activity  indulged  in  is  basket-ball.  The 
Nameoka  Athletic  Basket  Ball  Team  is  the  best  in 
the  neighborhood.  Other  activities  include  the  usual 
gymnasium  games  interspersed  with  picnics,  balls,  family 
outings,  club  parties  for  the  members  and  their  lady 
visitors,  just  as  is  true  of  most  clubs  on  the  East  Side. 

One  of  the  major  items  of  interest  is  the  Civil  Service 
class  that  the  Club  organized  and  consistently  supported. 
An  instructor  was  engaged  for  several  evenings  a 
week  who  presented  the  essentials  of  American  citizen- 
ship to  these  Americans  of  the  East  Side.  This  served  to 
stimulate  the  interest  of  the  club  members  in  local  polit- 
ics, and  the  members  of  the  district  election  boards  for 
the  neighborhood  are  sure  to  have  several  Nameoka 
men  on  them.  The  writer  served  as  an  election  official 
on  the  same  Election  Board  in  one  of  the  worst  districts 
of  New  York  City  just  ofif  the  Bowery  with  the  Presi- 
dent of  the  Nameoka  Club  for  two  consecutive  years  and 
learned  to  admire  th^  resolute  and  intelligently  informed 


146  THE  ITALIAN  CONTRIBUTION 

way  in  which  he  and  other  Nameokians  played  their  part 
in  helping  along  good  government  in  a  district  infested 
with  much  that  is  un-American. 

TYPE  OF  MEMBER— The  members  of  this  group 
both  with  respect  to  age  and  degree  of  education  are  in 
no  way  very  different  from  those  described  as  making 
up  the  "social  club."  Some  individuals  are  in  fact  mem- 
bers of  both.  The  main  difference  seems  to  be  that  mem- 
bers of  this  latter  club  like  physical  exercise  more.  This 
is  not  to  say  that  they  do  without  the  sensory  pleasures 
of  the  former,  but  simply  that  in  their  individual  scale 
of  relative  values  some  particular  hobby  such  as  basket- 
ball or  baseball  or  running  has  a  larger  place. 

TYPE  OF  ACTIVITY— Perhaps  the  most  common 
form  of  athletics  indulged  in  by  such  individuals  is 
basketball  in  the  winter  and  baseball  in  summer.  Begin- 
ning in  the  fall  the  athletic  chairman  announces  the 
schedules  of  games  to  be  played  thruout  the  season. 
These  games  are  distributed  between  the  home  court 
and  that  of  their  opponents  if  the  latter  have  one.  Such 
affairs  are  attended  by  the  club's  adherents  and  these 
matches  are  the  occasion  for  a  good  deal  of  betting.  Not 
infrequently  a  match  will  not  be  effected  excepting  that 
a  purse  be  offered.  According  to  the  statement  of  C. 
Dondero,  the  champion  semi-professional  basketball 
player  of  New  York  State,  "the  chief  interest  that 
attaches  to  the  game  is  the  betting." 

When  the  athletic  club  has  a  strong  following  and  is 
playing  a  winning  game  consistently  it  is  able  to  com- 
bine the"athletic"  with  the  "social"  so  that  the  financial 
end  shows  a  considerable  surplus.  An  instance  in  point 
is  the  case  of  the  well-known  Cathedral  Separates,  a 
professional  basketball  team  that  was  a  member  of  the 
Tri-State  League.  The  members  of  this  team,  composed 
of  Americans  of  Italian  extraction,  were  in  the  day-time 
engaged  in  such  work  as  postal  carriers,  bookkeepers  and 
pressfeeders.  Their  evenings  on  Saturdays  and  Sundays 
were  spent  in  playing  professional  basketball.  The  Cathe- 
dral Separates  engaged  Arlington  Hall  located  on  8th 
Street  a  short  distance  from  the  Italian  colony  down- 
town,  for   each    Sunday  afternoon   thruout   the   entire 


TO  AMERICAN  DEMOCRACY  147 

season.  The  forenoon  was  spent  in  playing  a  match 
game  of  basketball  for  stakes  and  the  remainder  of  the 
afternoon  and  evening  was  given  up  to  dancing  and 
drinking  and  feasting.  For  all  this  recreation  the  one 
entertained  was  charged  the  modest  sum  of  twenty-five 
cents.  In  this  way  this  team  secured  a  support  for  their 
own  athletic  activity  that  otherwise  would  have  been 
impossible. 

RELATION  AND  EFFECT  TO  COMMUNITY— The 
"athletic  club"  also  is  distinctly  separated  from  the  in- 
terests of  the  community  and  of  the  older  generation.  It 
stimulates  no  civic  interest  or  responsibility.  It  fosters 
an  intense  partisanry  about  a  little  nucleus — the  team. 
The  imminent  aim  of  this  organization  is  immediate  and 
individual,  namely  pleasure.  The  older  folks  do  not 
understand  the  modern  American  sports  and  recreation 
and  frequently  oppose  them.  Never  having  had  any 
"play"  themselves  they  believe  that  their  children  are 
growing  up  improperly  and  become  lazy  thru  overplay. 
Much  of  this  aversion  to  American  games  is  due  also  to 
the  strenuousness  involved  and  the  consequent  fear  that 
injury  will  follow. 

Membership  in  this  type  of  club  has  a  more  broaden- 
ing effect  than  is  true  of  the  previous  case  because  of  the 
wider  contacts  established.  Opposing  clubs  coming  from 
all  parts  of  the  city  and  without  limitations  of  race  are 
naturally  more  broadening  in  their  contacts.  It  is  very 
common  for  Americans  of  Italian  extraction  to  play 
against  Americans  of  Jewish  extraction.  This  is  so  be- 
cause they  are  so  nearly  alike  in  aims  and  type.  The 
games  scheduled  by  the  Nameoka  Club  for  one  season 
showed  six  nationalities  as  opponents,  viz :  Irish,  Jews, 
Germans,  Chinese,  Bohemian,  English,  and  their  games 
called  for  travelling  to  such  scattered  places  as  Rock- 
ville  Centre,  Patchogue,  L,  L,  Troy,  Rochester. 

In  duration  of  time  such  clubs  exist  only  as  they  make 
a  successful  showing  in  the  forms  of  athletics  followed. 
Otherwise  the  membership  roll  registers  a  fall.  Often  a 
club  simply  grows  itself  out  of  existence.  The  time 
passes  all  too  soon  when  one  can  play  basketball,  and 
when  sufficient  new  blood  is  not  forthcoming  the  club 


148  THE  ITALIAN  CONTRIBUTION 

disbands  of  its  own  accord.  The  youngster  of  seventeen 
who  is  eligible  to  enter  such  a  club  would  sooner  form  a 
separate  organization  of  his  own  rather  than  enter  one 
whose  members  average  twenty-six  years  of  age,  and 
where  his  opinion  is  not  valued  very  highly.  The  club 
therefore  represents  a  transient  stage  in  the  development 
of  the  American  of  Italian  extraction.  This  is  the  stage 
when  he  is  most  active  physically. 

THE  RELIGIOUS  CLUB 
I.  THE    CATHOLIC    CLUB 

INTRODUCTION— In  describing  this  type  of  organi- 
zation as  it  is  affected  by  Americans  of  Italian  extrac- 
tion, we  will  consider  two  kinds  of  clubs ;  that  organized 
under  Catholic,  and  that  under  Protestant  auspices. 
While  their  aims  are  similar,  their  methods  are  in  some 
ways  different. 

Most  Americans  of  Italian  extraction  are  Catholic. 
In  Italy  only  three  per  cent  of  the  people  are  Protestants. 
In  America  Protestants  among  Italians  are  more  numer- 
ous, but  the  percentage  is  overwhelmingly  in  favor  of  the 
Catholics.  Mangano  may  be  said  to  fail  perhaps  to  stress 
the  actual  conditions  that  exist  when  he  says  in  this 
connection :  "Out  of  600,000  Italian  people  in  greater 
New  York,  the  Roman  Church,  by  its  own  figures,  lays 
claim  to  only  180,135  members  of  Roman  Catholic  Italian 
churches.  This  includes  children  and  is  less  than  one- 
third  the  total  population."*  Recently  compiled  statis- 
tics showed  what  the  different  Protestant  denominations 
have  accomplished  in  their  work  among  Italians  in  the 
United  States,  viz : 

Approximate 
Churches  Number  of 

Denomination  and  Missions       Communicants 

Presbyterian    103  12,800 

Congregational    39  1,000 

Baptist    65  3,000 

Episcopalian   15  1,600 

Methodist    52  9,000 

The   numerical   superiority   of   Catholic   churches   and 

*  Mangano,  Antonio.     "Sons  of  Italy,"  p.  154. 


TO  AMERICAN  DEMOCRACY  149 

communicants  is  so  patent  as  to  need  no  showing.  The 
Catholic  Church  recognizing  the  need  for  the  extra- 
church  activities  among  its  people  has  organized  different 
clubs  with  names  that  are  similar  thruout  all  their  par- 
ishes and  that  in  no  very  great  way  are  different  from 
the  social  activities  and  reHgious  societies  that  are 
started  and  kept  up  among  Catholic  parishes  where 
the  people  are  of  different  stock.  In  discussing  the  or- 
ganization and  activities  of  Ozanam  Association  No.  5 
located  in  the  dense  Italian  colony  at  Mulberry  Bend  we 
are  not  describing  the  form  of  an  organization  which  is 
different  from  Ozanam  Association  No.  7  located  in  the 
heart  of  an  Irish  section. 

PARTICULAR  GROUPS— Ozanam  Association  No.  5 
is  connected  with  the  Italian  church  of  the  Transfigura- 
tion of  which  the  Rev.  E.  Coppo,  Provincial  of  the  Sale- 
sian  Order,  is  the  Pastor.  Its  athletic  director  is  Denis 
J.  Cronin.  Ozanam  Association  No.  5  enjoys  the  use  of 
a  separate  building  on  Park  Street  a  few  paces  from 
Mulberry  Bend  Park.  The  equipment  is  substantial  but 
of  a  past  day  and  the  well-worn  character  of  the  build- 
ing, at  least  of  some  of  it,  attests  to  the  rough  usage  to 
which  it  must  have  been  subjected. 

The  Ozanam  Association  is  very  similar  to  the  Italian 
Catholic  Club  which  is  also  described  here.  Both  stand 
for  the  social  improvement  of  the  American  of  Italian 
extraction.  The  social  uplift  is  concomitant  with  an 
attempt  to  keep  up  religious  practises. 

The  Italian  Catholic  Club  so-called  because  it  repre- 
sented an  offshoot  of  a  group  that  had  for  years  met  at 
the  parish  house  of  the  Old  Catholic  Cathedral  on  Prince 
and  Mulberry  Streets,  was  organized  in  1911  and  incor- 
porated a  year  later. 

The  Italian  Catholic  Club  now  meets  at  its  own  club 
rooms  not  far  from  the  Old  Cathedral  where  they  pay 
an  annual  rental  of  $300.  The  club  membership 
totals  150  and  the  ages  range  from  16  to  35.  Mem- 
bership is  largely  made  up  of  workers  in  the  skilled 
trades.  There  is  a  predominance  of  electricians  and 
skilled  auto  mechanics.     The  next   most  common   em- 


150  THE  ITALIAN  CONTRIBUTION 

ployment  is  that  of  office  workers  such  as  law  clerks  and 
bookkeepers.  Such  members  represent  a  scant  fourth 
in  the  membership.  There  are  four  lawyers  and  also 
three  doctors.  Dues  are  lixed  at  fifty  cents  a  month  and 
meetings  are  held  twice  a  month.  About  twenty-five  of 
the  men  are  married. 

The  chief  recreation  of  the  members  is  secured  thru 
socials,  dances,  checkers,  pinochle  and  other  card  games. 
Basketball  also  is  extremely  popular  and  vies  with  card 
playing  for  first  place. 

TYPE  OF  MEMBERS— The  type  of  members  joining 
these  clubs  is  more  subject  to  the  influence  of  elders  than 
are  the  members  of  the  previous  clubs.  One  reason  for 
this  is  the  fact  that  the  ages  are  somewhat  lovv^er  and 
they  seem  to  be  more  amenable  to  guidance.  There  is  also 
apt  to  be  a  difference  in  education  favoring  the  members 
of  the  latter  class.  A  distribution  according  to  the  school- 
ing of  the  two  religious  organizations  mentioned  is : 

Public   School     High  College 

Gradute         School  Graduates 

Italian   Catholic  Club 114                   22  14 

Ozanam  Association  No.  5               155                   38  7 

To  a  certain  extent  the  educational  influence  of  such 
club  life  is  colored  with  a  religious  flavor.  One  of  the 
prerequisites  for  membership  in  each  group  is  that  the 
prospective  candidate  be  sympathetic  with  Catholicism. 

Not  unimportant  also  is  the  fact  that  the  individuals 
frequenting  these  clubs  are  more  subject  to  parental 
influence.  Paternalism  goes  farther  with  them.  This  is 
not  to  say  that  they  are  more  Italian  and  less  American 
than  are  the  members  of  the  social  or  the  athletic  clubs 
but  simply  that  by  virtue  of  temperament  and  constitu- 
tion the  members  of  the  religious  club  are  more  strongly 
inclined  to  follow  out  the  customs  in  vogue  in  Italian 
homes. 

TYPE  OF  ACTIVITY— The  activities  that  such  clubs 
undertake  are  numerous  and  varied  and  suited  to  the  ages 
of  the  different  individuals  of  the  group.  In  a  Catholic 
church  there  is  almost  sure  to  be  something  of  a  musical 
training,  tied  up  to  the  actual  work  of  the  church  per- 


TO  AMERICAN  DEMOCRACY  151 

haps  by  their  choir  singing  or  church  music.  This'  is 
true  also  of  the  Protestant  churches.  Band  training  for 
the  boys  is  common ;  Catholic  Brigades,  Boy  Scout 
Troops,  Fife  and  Drum  Corps  and  Cadets,  etc.,  attest  to 
the  varied  as  well  as  practical  turn  of  the  recreational 
opportunities  afforded. 

Other  features  common  to  all  church-going  people  of 
whatever  racial  stock,  are  socials,  church  dances,  raffles, 
outings,  May  parties,  Halloween  parties.  Thanksgiving 
entertainments,  etc.  A  description  of  these  is  not  offered 
as  they  are  in  no  way  different  from  those  of  other  races. 

II.    THE    PROTESTANT    CLUB 

INTROpiUCTION— The  other  kind  of  religious  club 
that  remains  to  be  noted  is  that  organized  within  the 
Protestant  Church.  There  are  in  all  about  76  Protestant 
churches  in  New  York  City  divided  among  the  different 
denominations  as  follows : 

Presbyterian  22 

Baptist 18 

Episcopalian   17 

Methodist    19 

Of  the  total  number  of  Protestants  in  New  York  City, 
it  is  certain  that  a  definite  portion  goes  for  the  pecuniary 
rewards  that  the  church  gives.  It  is  impossible  to  say 
of  what  proportion  this  holds  true. 

TABERNACLE  YOUNG  MEN'S  CLUB 

PARTICULAR  GROUP— The  Broome  Street  Taber- 
nacle is  one  of  the  oldest  Protestant  Mission  churches 
in  the  city,  having  been  erected  in  1865.  At  its  begin- 
ning, its  members  were  chiefly  of  English,  Scotch  and 
German  stocks,  but  with  the  rapid  infiltration  of  the 
Italian  population  in  the  district,  all  this  has  been  radi- 
cally changed.  The  membership  today  is  entirely  Italian. 
This  church  is  conducted  under  the  auspices  of  the  City 
Mission  Society  of  which  Dr.  A.  F.  Schauffler  is  the 
head. 

TYPE  OF  MEMBERS— The  Young  Men's  Tabernacle 
Club  in  its  balmiest  days  totalled  anywhere  from  forty 


152  THE  ITALIAN  CONTRIBUTION 

to  sixty  members,  and  was  considered  one  of  the  most 
progressive  Protestant  Clubs  in  any  Italian-speaking 
church  thruout  the  city.  This  fact  was  largely  due  to 
the  unusually  exceptional  leadership  that  the  club  en- 
joyed. Roswell  Arrighi,  son  of  the  well  known  pastor 
of  the  church,  Antonio  Arrighi,  makes  this  club  a  special 
hobby  of  his.  Furthermore,  Miss  Edith  H.  White  for- 
merly associated  with  Wm.  R.  George  of  the  George 
Junior  Republic  and  in  this  connection  known  as  "Aunty" 
also  spent  considerable  time  there.  Miss  White  has  held 
the  leadership  of  this  group  for  nearly  eight  years. 

The  average  age  of  the  members  is  twenty-four.  Most 
of  them  are  employed  in  the  mechanical  trades ;  a  few 
are  clerical  workers  and  a  bare  half-dozen  are  students 
in  schools  and  universities.  In  disposition  and  personal 
characteristics  the  members  of  the  Protestant  Club 
present  no  great  differences  from  the  types  of  such  as 
frequent  similar  clubs  in  the  Catholic  institutions. 
Neither  can  be  said  to  be  more  American  than  the  other ; 
the  average  amount  of  schooling  obtained  within  the 
groups  as  a  whole  is  practically  the  same;  the  pleasures 
followed  are  identical ;  both  feel  that  they  are  Americans 
and  act  so. 

TYPE  OF  ACTIVITY— Membership  in  this  particular 
group  is  dependent  upon  attendance  in  some  Bible  Class. 
This  religious  activity  has  an  important  grip  upon  the 
lives  of  these  individuals  because  the  weekly  meetings 
are  interesting  and  instructive.  Their  more  frequent 
and  perhaps  more  gripping  contacts  are  those  secured 
in  the  social  intercourse  gained  in  their  meetings  and 
thruout  their  recreational  and  physical  activities.  The 
general  rounds  of  socials,  games,  parties,  picnics,  stags, 
church  festivals,  entertainments  and  young  people's 
meetings  are  all  entered  into  with  zest.  Their  effects 
are  generally  sensory.  The  all-around  pleasures  de- 
scribed allow  for  a  fair  measure  of  ideational  values 
which  is  something  we  note  for  the  first  time  in  our 
description  of  the  "Social  Organizations"  of  these  people. 

The  wholesome  and  beneficial  contacts  established  in 
this  club  are  such  as  to  call  forth  the  first  note  of  com- 
mendation   so    far    to   be    noted   in    discussing   the    co- 


TO  AMERICAN  DEMOCRACY  153 

operative  features  of  Americans  of  Italian  extraction. 
The  religious  club,  both  Catholic  and  Protestant,  while 
conservative,  is  the  first  solidly  rooted  social  institution 
of  which  real  progress  can  be  predicated.  In  no  funda- 
mental way  so  far  as  the  American  of  Italian  extraction 
is  concerned  can  there  be  said  to  be  any  great  difference 
in  these  clubs  from  those  of  similar  clubs  in  the  Catholic 
church  and  Protestant  church  conducted  among  other 
people.  Activities  are  conducted  with  the  same  end  in 
view  —  spiritual  instruction  and  physical  enjoyment  of 
a  clean  and  wholesome  kind. 

RELATION  AND  EFFECT  OF  RELIGIOUS  CLUBS 
TO  COMMUNITY— The  relation  of  these  clubs  to  the 
community  is  intimate  and  important.  First,  because  to 
a  very  large  extent  it  is  the  first  form  of  organized 
activity  we  have  encountered  that  places  one  under  the 
control  and  makes  him  subject  to  the  supervision  of 
others.  Such  overhead  supervision  serves  to  see  to  it 
that  the  membership  is  homogeneous  in  one  important 
element  at  least  —  the  religious;  that  the  activities  are 
purposive  and  that  as  a  unit  the  group  and  its  activities 
are  correlated  with  an  institution. 

Its  relation  to  the  community  is  "set"  and  "adjusted" 
and  is  likely  to  continue  after  the  time  that  individuals 
making  up  the  present  group  pass  away.  The  measure 
of  license  and  free  control  that  characterized  the  pre- 
vious groups  is  absent  here.  But  more  important  than 
the  relation  to  the  institution  and  its  administration  is 
the  relation  between  the  home  and  the  younger  genera- 
tion making  up  these  units. 

The  adult  immigrant  is  sympathetic  with  this  kind  of 
organization  because  (1)  the  religion  behind  it  is  similar 
to  the  one  that  he  professes  and  that  commands  his  con- 
fidence ;  (2)  he  knows  definitely  where  his  son  is  and  in  a 
general  way  is  conversant  with  the  activities  for  which 
the  clubs  stand.  Neither  of  these  is  true  in  the  cases 
previously  considered.  Often  tho  when  the  American  of 
Italian  extraction  attends  the  Protestant  club  it  is  done 
surreptitiously  and  without  the  parent's  knowledge. 


154  THE  ITALIAN  CONTRIBUTION 

THE   BENEVOLENT   ASSOCIATION 

PARTICULAR  GROUPS— These  organizations  are 
not  popular  with  the  younger  generation,  tho  among 
the  adult  Italian  they  have  a  wide  vogue  and  exercise 
greater  influence  than  any  other  form  of  organization. 
We  shall  not  speak  of  benevolent  associations  that  are 
branches  of  the  well-known  fraternal  organizations  like 
the  Masons,  Odd  Fellows,  Moose,  etc.,  because  of  the 
identical  similarity  in  organization,  structure  and  func- 
tion that  exists  among  such  branches  of  all  stocks,  ex- 
cepting to  mention  a  few  of  the  very  principal  lodges  by 
name  such  as  the  Alba,  Roma,  Garibaldi,  Mazzini,  Jeru- 
salem, Italia,  Cavour,  etc.  We  pass  on  therefore  to  a 
type  of  organization  developed  by  the  American  of  Italian 
blood  largely  of  the  "trade"  or  business  type  previously 
described. 

The  Bagolino  Benefit  Association  is  a  club  named  after 
an  old  poet  and  musician  who  came  from  the  same  part 
of  Italy  as  the  members  of  this  group,  i.e.,  from  Sicily. 
The  club  is  located  in  the  large  Sicilian  colony  on 
Twenty-Sixth  Street  and  was  organized  six  years  ago. 
According  to  the  president  of  this  club  the  "purpose  of 
the  organization  is  to  keep  together  those  individuals 
who  have  come  from  the  same  home  town  in  Sicily ;  to 
provide  a  suitable  meeting  place  in  order  to  avoid  having 
members  stand  on  street  corners  and  about  saloons ;  to 
develop  socially  and  to  be  prepared  to  mutually  assist 
one  another  in  every  way." 

TYPE  OF  MEMBERS— There  are  forty-four  mem- 
bers in  this  group,  which  is  representative  of  many  such 
others  thruout  the  same  district  and  elsewhere.  About 
twenty  members  are  married.  Dues  are  seventy-five 
cents  a  month  and  meetings  are  held  once  a  month.  The 
chief  social  feature  common  to  this  club  as  with  most  of 
the  others  are  billiards,  checkers,  piano  playing  and  other 
musical  instruments,  dancing  and  card  playing.  This 
last  is  a  very  popular  pastime.  Some  gymnasium  appa- 
ratus is  on  hand  but  very  little  used.  The  basketball 
court  is  also  very  popular.  A  great  deal  is  made  of  the 
periodic  feasts  or  dinners  where  all  the  members  gather 


TO  AMERICAN  DEMOCRACY  155 

and  have  an  amazing  variety  of  Italian  dishes   served 
them. 

Of  the  forty-four  members  of  this  group,  a  distribu- 
tion according  to  education  showed  the  following: 

2  Graduates  of  High  School  in  Italy. 
10  Graduates  of  Elementary  Schools  in  United  States. 
30  Graduates  of  Elementary  Schools  in  Italy. 

2  No  schooling. 

A  distribution  by  ages  is : 

Age  Period  Number  Individuals 

18-21    3 

22-25   5 

26-29   12 

30-35   10 

36-40   6 

41-45   8 

By  vocations  these  same  members  are  divided  as 
follows : 

Vocation  Number 

Tailors  6 

Machine  Operators  13 

Clerks    6 

Machinists   8 

Linotypists    4 

Printers  5 

Stenographers    2 

The  Italian  American  Citizens  Benevolent  Association 
is  an  organization  that  is  essentially  similar  in  composi- 
tion and  purposes  to  the  Bagolino  Benevolent  Associa- 
tion. The  club  is  located  in  the  heart  of  the  dense  Italian 
Colony  in  East  New  York.  It  was  organized  in  1911  by 
P.  B.  Buonora  and  according  to  the  statement  of  its 
president  was  designed  to : 

(a)  Promote  a  desire  among  Italians  to  become  American 
citizens. 

(b)  Instruct  the  members  in  good  and  efficient  government 
regardless  of  party  politics. 

(c)  To  especially  urge  men  and  women  of  ItaHan  descent  to 
take  interest  in  public  affairs. 

(d)  Provide  for  the  economic  and  social  welfare  of  the  mem- 
bers and  their  famiHes  by  means  of  sick  and  death  benefits. 

TYPE  OF  ACTIVITY— This  association  is  one  of  the 
largest  and  most  influential  of  its  kind  in  Brooklyn. 
Two  meetings  are  held  monthly,  excluding  special 
gatherings  for  lectures,  political  rallies  and  conferences. 


156  THE  ITALIAN  CONTRIBUTION 

The  membership  is  almost  400  and  the  ages  average  from 
21  to  45.  Special  features  that  this  organization  has  sup- 
ported are  English  and  citizenship  classes.  Fully  one- 
half  of  the  membership  is  made  up  of  adult  Italians  and 
so  parallels  a  condition  found  in  the  Bagolino  Club 
where  more  than  half  of  the  group  were  over  thirty 
years  of  age.  This  fact  shows  no  doubt  why  the  "ben- 
efit" idea  is  included  in  the  organization.  Fully  as  much 
Italian  as  English  is  spoken  in  the  rooms  and  at  the 
gatherings. 

A  goodly  majority  of  the  members  of  this  group  are 
individuals  who  have  Italian  interests  very  deeply  rooted, 
as  their  ages  and  their  place  of  education  might  well 
indicate.  The  degree  of  parental  influence  with  this  type 
of  American  of  Italian  extraction  therefore  is  most 
marked.  This  is  reflected  in  the  fact  that  only  ten  mem- 
bers of  the  Bagolino  or  one-fourth  of  the  entire  mem- 
bership are  citizens.  The  feeling  of  "camaraderie"  in 
this  and  other  clubs  is  so  strong  that  whereas  no  definite 
stipulation  is  made  with  respect  to  "benefits"  each  and 
every  one  knows  that  if  he  should  be  incapacitated,  he 
need  not  fear  any  want.  Always  one  of  the  largest 
expenditures  of  these  clubs  goes  for  flags,  in  this  case 
amounting  to  $600.  This  is  considered  a  very  small  sum. 
Usually  the  amount  of  money  spent  on  flags  and  such 
decorations  runs  into  thousands  of  dollars.  Pianos  and 
musical  instruments  reflect  the  artistic  sense  of  the 
Italian  and  also  come  in  for  an  abnormal  share  of  the 
club's  fund. 

RELATION  AND  EFFECT  OF  BENEFIT  CLUB  TO 
COMMUNITY— In  so  far  as  these  clubs  draw  upon 
Americans  of  Italian  extractions  for  support  they  are  an 
anti-Americanization  agency.  Allegiance  is  divided  be- 
tween the  shop  and  this  organization  which  in  every 
sense  of  the  word  is  bent  on  prolonging  the  influence  of 
traditional  ideas,  family  hopes,  Italian  ambitions,  Italian 
ways  of  living  and  Italian  customs.  This  is  rendered 
possible  thru  the  reading  of  the  Italian  newspapers  lying 
about  in  these  club-rooms,  the  fraternal  badges  or  other 
club  insignia,  Italian  bands,  the  periodic  feasts,  Italian 


TO  AMERICAN  DEMOCRACY  157 

games  and  finally  the  inevitable  penalty  of   social  os- 
tracism should  any  one  not  marry  an  Italian  girl. 

Economically  these  clubs  make  possible  a  greater 
saving  of  money  for  they  tend  to  keep  their  members 
true  to  a  standard  of  living  diflferent  from  that  known 
to  the  American ;  educationally  they  act  as  great  deter- 
rents to  the  wholesome  Americanization  of  the  children 
of  Italian  immigrants ;  socially  they  keep  alive  Italian 
customs,  traditions,  ways  of  thinking  and  of  doing  things, 
and  are  the  most  effective  nourishers  of  the  Italian 
immigrant  colonies  in  New  York  City ;  politically  such  a 
club  draws  heavily  from  the  potential  citizenry  due 
America  thru  her  fearlessness  and  trustfulness  in  taking 
to  her  bosom  the  heterogeneous  masses  of  Europe ; 
morally  they  create  a  social  discord  between  two  civiliza- 
tions that  makes  for  a  great  deal  of  friction.  This  fric- 
tion results  from  the  maladjustment  inevitable  when 
two  generations  such  as  the  immigrant  and  his  offspring 
are  forced  to  live  together.  A  clash  in  ideals  inevitably 
ensues. 

THE  Y.  M.  C.  A.  ASSOCIATION 

PARTICULAiR  GR^OUPS— The  Y.  M.  C.  A.  does  not 
conduct  a  branch  association  exclusively  for  Americans 
of  Italian  extraction,  but  by  virtue  of  the  location  of  a 
building  in  a  district  that  is  predominately  Italian,  the 
complexion  of  the  membership  corresponds  accordingly. 
Normally  the  settlement  with  its  boy's  clubs,  dramatic 
societies  and  literary  circles  is  supposed  to  be  a  feeder 
to  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  branch  that  is  not  catering  exclusively 
to  transients.  As  the  case  proved,  at  least  with  Ameri- 
cans of  Italian  extraction,  this  condition  does  not  obtain, 
and  accounts  in  large  measure  for  the  failure  of  the  Y.  M. 
C.  A.  branch  association  in  East  Harlem  that  was  started 
as  a  branch  to  be  devoted  exclusively  to  Americans  of 
Italian  origin. 

There  are  but  two  instances  in  the  history  of  the 
Y.  M.  C.  A.  movement  in  the  Greater  City  where  this 
consideration  of  race  existed  sufficiently  to  be  looked 
upon  as  a  factor  to  be  considered  in  aiming  for  success. 
These   two   instances    are   the   Young   Men's    Institute 


158  THE  ITALIAN  CONTRIBUTION 

Branch  of  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  and  the  East  Harlem  Italian 
Y.  M.  C.  A.  located  on  East  116th  Street.  The  former 
has  an  existence  of  some  sixty  years ;  the  latter  existed 
but  three  years  and  is  now  no  more.  The  East  Har- 
lem Italian  Y.  M.  C.  A.  was  located  on  East  116th 
Street  below  Second  and  Third  Avenues  in  a  three- 
story  brown  building  just  on  the  edge  of  a  Little 
Italy  section  of  Harlem.  It  might  be  said  here  that  a 
serious  mistake  was  made  at  the  start  in  not  choosing 
a  site  in  the  very  heart  of  the  colony.  This  branch  was 
opened  in  1911  and  closed  its  doors  in  1914.  In  no  way 
was  the  purpose  of  this  branch  or  that  of  the  Y.  M.  I. 
different  from  that  obtaining  with  the  branch  associa- 
tions located  in  other  parts  of  the  city.  A  very  capable 
secretary,  Mr.  Lawson  H.  Brown,  had  charge  of  the 
work  for  the  three  years  that  it  ran.  This  branch,  tho 
supposed  to  tap  the  great  numbers  of  Americans  of 
Italian  extraction  in  the  area  of  the  "Little  Italy"  sec- 
tion of  Harlem,  never  had  more  than  one  hundred 
and  fifty  members  and  thruout  its  existence  showed 
a  very  remarkably  high  degree  of  membership 
turnover  by  having  approximately  three  hundred  and 
fifty  different  members  in  three  years ;  that  is  each  year 
showed  an  entirely  different  set  of  fellows. 

TYPE  OF  MEMBERS— Perhaps  one  of  the  reasons 
for  the  failure  of  this  branch  was  the  remarkably  wide 
discrepancy  in  types  of  members.  The  average  age  of 
the  membership  was  twenty-five,  membership  was  com- 
posed on  the  one  hand  of  a  clique  of  Columbia  College 
men  who  had  won  Phi  Beta  Kappa  honors,  and  who  are 
now  instructing  in  universities  and  secondary  schools ; 
and  on  the  other  hand  of  the  lowest  type  to  be  found  in 
the  Italian  colnoy.  "Social  mixing"  here  was  never  with- 
out friction. 

The  pleasures  indulged  in  were  largely  physical,  in- 
cluding hand-ball,  gymnastic  work,  basketball,  indoor 
baseball,  etc.  Other  activities  were  English  classes, 
reading  rooms,  religious  meetings  and  entertainments. 
There  was  nothing  to  distinguish  these  activities  in  any 
way  from  those  ordinarily  carried  on  to-day  among  other 
association  branches.    Mr.  Brown,  the  secretary,  thoug-ht 


TO  AMERICAN  DEMOCRACY  159 

that  an  unusual  appreciation  of  musical  and  literary  art 
obtained.  The  reason  for  discontinuing  the  work  fol- 
lowed from  the  fact  that  the  Board  of  Directors  would 
not  lease  the  building  anew  unless  the  Italian  consti- 
tuency would  do  a  larger  share  toward  covering  the 
current  expenses  each  year. 

The  Young  Men's  Institute  is  one  of  the  oldest  Y.  M. 
C.  A.  branches  in  the  city.  Tho  at  its  inception  there 
were  no  members  of  Italian  parentage  within  the  mem- 
bership, to-day  one  is  on  its  Board  of  Directors.*  When 
the  Young  Men's  Institute  opened  its  doors,  almost  sixty 
years  ago,  its  membership  was  almost  entirely  made  up 
of  members  of  Americans  of  Irish  and  German  blood; 
to-day  fully  fifty  per  cent  are  of  Italian  extraction.  Two 
years  ago  thru  the  efforts  of  Mr.  E.  C.  Baldwin,  for 
twenty-five  years  its  secretary,  $60,000  was  raised  for  re- 
modeling the  old  structure,  and  it  represents  to-day  as 
well  equipped  a  Y.  M.  C.  A.  branch  as  any  to  be  found 
in  the  city.  In  this  building  is  the  only  indoor  swimming 
pool  located  downtown  below  23rd  Street.  While  the 
dues  in  the  East  Harlem  Italian  Y.  M.  C.  A.  were  $3.00 
per  annum,  membership  in  the  Young  Men's  Institute  is 
$15.00. 

Naturally  members  joining  this  branch  are  residents 
of  the  immediate  vicinity.  It  is  to  be  deprecated  that 
but  225  individuals  out  of  the  thousands  of  young  men 
of  Italian  parentage  living  in  the  great  Mulberry  Bend 
Italian  colony  take  advantage  of  this  building  and  its 
equipment.  The  average  age  of  the  Italian  portion  of 
the  membership  is  between  twenty-five  and  twenty-six. 
A  distribution  of  workers  shows  seventy-four  different 
fields  of  activity,  the  six  most  frequently  found  being 
clerks,  operators,  salesmen,  plumbers,  tailors  and  elec- 
tricians. Fully  50  per  cent  profess  Protestantism  as  their 
religious  faith.  In  passing  it  may  be  said  that  the 
Protestant  character  of  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  has  much  to  dc 
with  keeping  down  the  membership. 

The  pleasures  of  the  group  are  largely  physical  and 
social.  The  excellent  gymnasium,  showers,  handball 
courts,    basketball    courts    and    indoor    baseball    courts, 

*  Mr.  Danzilio, 


160  THE  ITALIAN  CONTRIBUTION 

lockers,  reading  rooms,  libraries  and  evening  classes, 
afford  a  wealth  of  opportunity  for  right  and  proper  devel- 
opment if  they  were  but  used.  Religious  meetings  are 
held  regularly,  and  according  to  the  reports  of  the  sec- 
retary are  satisfactory  with  respect  to  attendance.  One 
of  the  most  important  activities  which  this  branch  con- 
ducted before  the  war  was  its  training  school  for  civil 
service.  Annually  a  goodly  number  of  policemen,  fire- 
men, postal  and  customs  and  railway  mail  clerks  are 
sent  out  from  this  school  having  successfully  passed  their 
examinations  and  are  placed  in  government  positions. 

The  study  and  stressing  of  citizenship  may  be  said  to 
be  the  most  marked  activity  of  the  Young  Men's  In- 
stitute. This  it  has  done  and  is  doing  effectively  and 
well.  This  branch  is  also  able  to  maintain  a  flourishing 
literary  society  where  weekly  debates  and  discussions  on 
various  topics  are  entered  into  with  avidity.  Dr.  L.  C. 
Schroeder  had  much  to  do  towards  making  this  latter 
activity  a  success. 

RELATION  AND  EFFECT  TO  COMMUNITY  — 
There  is  no  relation  at  all  between  this  Institute  —  the 
best  high  grade  Americanizing  agency  of  its  kind  in  the 
neighborhood  —  and  the  Italian  colony  on  the  Lower 
East  Side.  Whether  this  is  due  to  the  apathy  of  the 
people  themselves  or  of  the  failure  of  the  institution  "to 
get  across,"  it  is  impossible  to  say.  It  may  be  that  both 
share  in  the  blame.  Some  of  the  fellows  who  are  "on  the 
outside"  say  it  is  too  "high  brow";  others  that  it  is 
Protestant  and  forbidden ;  others,  that  it  costs  too 
much  money.  In  all  probability  all  three  factors  are 
operative.  It  is  certain  that  the  extensive  activities 
carried  on  when  the  membership  was  largely  of  Irish 
and  German  origin  do  not  obtain  among  the  present 
membership  with  its  Italian  coloring. 

THE    CIVIC    ASSOCIATION 

If  it  were  possible  to  describe  here  the  organization 
and  functions  of  a  large  and  multifariously  active  civic 
association  for  Americans  of  Italian  extraction,  it  would 
be  both  good  and  bad.  It  would  be  good  because  a 
flourishing  civic   organization   on   the   one   hand,  would 


TO  AMERICA  NDEMOCRACY  161 

show  that  our  Italian  stock  is  greatly  interested  in  gov- 
ernment ;  on  the  other  hand,  it  would  be  bad,  because  of 
the  carrying  over  of  the  "race"  question  in  matters  of 
civics  and  politics. 

To  a  superficial  observer,  therefore,  the  absence  of 
some  such  flourishing  civic  organization,  directly  inter- 
ested in  making  better  citizens,  is  often  construed  to 
mean  that  Italians  do  not  become  citizens. 

Few  organizations  of  any  consequence  with  a  distinctly 
civic  or  political  purpose  exist  among  the  younger  gen- 
eration of  these  Americans  in  New  York  City.  Some 
years  ago  the  older  generation  organized  the  Italian- 
American  Democratic  Union.  This  Union,  which 
still  exists,  aimed  to  unite  Italian-speaking  Ameri- 
cans of  the  first  generation  about  the  standards  of  one 
of  the  two  leading  political  parties  of  this  state. 

PARTICULAR  GROUPS— The  Fugazzi  Association  is 
a  large  and  powerful  civic  organization  named  after  its 
founder,  Humboldt  Fugazzi,  who  was  intensely  inter- 
ested in  having  his  people  adopt  America  as  their  per- 
manent home.  This  Association  has  its  clubrooms  in  the 
Italian  colony  on  the  lower  West  Side  on  Thompson 
Street  near  Bleecker.  Humboldt  Fugazzi  is  a  local 
politician  who  has  given  years  to  the  work  of  develop- 
ing a  civic  consciousness  among  Italians  on  the  West 
Side.  From  a  few  dozen,  this  club  has  steadily  increased 
until  it  now  counts  almost  one  thousand  names  on  its 
rolls  making  it  unquestionably  the  most  powerful  group 
of  its  kind  among  the  younger  generation  on  the  West 
Side.  According  to  the  founder  of  this  club  the  purpose 
of  the  organization  is  to  "work  for  the  betterment  of 
the  Italian  elements  on  the  West  Side  socially  and  polit- 
ically." Dues  are  fifty  cents  a  month,  and  meetings  are 
held  fortnightly. 

TYPE  OF  ACTIVITY— Activities  of  the  members  are 
of  a  social,  physical,  and  mental  nature.  The  club  rooms 
are  splendidly  furnished  with  an  equipment  which  costs 
thousands  of  dollars.  Pool  and  card  games  are  the  most 
popular  diversions  of  the  members.  Music  is  next  in 
popularity.     Members  of  this  organization  take  a  very 


162  THE  ITALIAN  CONTRIBUTION 

active  part  in  athletics,  of  which  running  and  cycling 
probably  feature  most  prominently. 

A  citizenship  school  is  conducted  by  this  club  and  has 
done  its  work  so  effectually  that  of  a  membership  of 
over  900  scarcely  35  are  aliens.  At  each  election  in- 
creased activity  in  politics  results  because  of  the  keen 
interest  that  these  individuals  take  in  government. 

Where  an  organization  of  this  kind  is  too  much  under 
the  thumb  of  one  man  or  clique  not  unfrequently  it  is 
used  to  further  personal  ends.  A  fair  judgment  of  the 
situation  with  reference  to  the  Fugazzi  Association  from 
this  standpoint  must  relieve  this  organization  from  this 
suspicion.  The  best  refutation  of  this  charge  is  that 
the  club  has  vacillated  in  its  support  of  parties,  voting 
as  individuals  instead  of  a  group. 

Other  clubs  of  a  like  kind  are  the  Italian  American 
Democratic  Union,  and  the  Italian-American  Citizens 
Association. 

RELATION  AND  EFFECT  OF  CIVIC  CLUB  TO 
COMMUNITY — The  influence  of  a  civic  organization  of 
a  type  such  as  the  above  has  a  salutary  effect  upon  the 
community.  The  reasons  for  this  are  various.  The  one 
who  frequents  the  Civic  Club  is  apt  to  know  intimately 
both  individuals  and  sources  that  are  more  truly  Ameri- 
can than  any  other  person  or  things  he  might  meet  in 
his  work-a-day  world.  To  begin  with,  the  entire  em- 
phasis of  club-life  is  placed  upon  American  citizenship. 

Politically  these  clubs,  while  plausibly  charged  with 
a  pseudo-Americanism  because  of  the  appeal  they  make 
to  racial  backgrounds,  are  in  reality  indispensible  chan- 
nels necessary  for  the  infiltration  of  an  unbroken  stream 
of  American  influences  into  the  lives  of  those  individuals 
that  frequent  them.  This  is  so  because  of  the  relations 
that  exist  between  such  civic  clubs  and  the  political 
party.  This  connection  allows  for  frequent  visits  to 
these  clubs  by  the  leading  candidates  for  political  office, 
the  stressing  of  parliamentar}^  rules  and  procedure,  the 
emphasizing  of  group  loyalty  and  even  individual  fealty 
—  all  of  which  show  a  new  set  of  values  that  heretofore 
were  unknown. 

Educationally   the  practice   in   reading  the   numerous 


TO  AMERICAN  DEMOCRACY  163 

pamphlets,  articles,  posters  and  cards  that  are  being 
constantly  put  out  by  the  energetic  leaders  of  the  Civic 
Club,  calls  forth  reactions  that  prove  stimulating.  Social 
contacts  become  more  numerous,  intercommunication 
more  frequent  and  the  whole  sphere  of  the  individual's 
mental  horizon  is  widened  to  include  a  world  larger  than 
he  knew  before  he  joined  such  a  club. 

The  civic  club  usually  takes  it  upon  itself  to  look  after 
the  hygiene,  health,  recreation  and  functions  of  a 
municipal  nature  as  they  affect  the  district  in  which  the 
workers  live.  In  this  way  they  are  brought  face  to  face 
with  American  government  in  a  very  practical  way. 
This  club  is  a  social  and  civic  laboratory  that  this  type 
of  American  needs  in  order  to  become  a  more  useful 
citizen. 

SOCIAL  WELFARE  CLUB 

INTRODUCTION— It  is  within  this  type  of  organiza- 
tion that  we  find  the  best  instances  of  cooperative  and 
concerted  group  action.  Organization  here  is  both  voli- 
tional and  purposive.  A  definite  program  is  held  forth 
and  serves  to  attract  individuals  of  a  comparatively 
homogeneous  nature.  The  basis  for  membership  within 
these  groups  is  Italian  ancestry.  Sometimes  though 
Americans  of  other  descents  are  admitted  because  they 
are  interested  in  Italian  culture  and  Italian  people.  The 
purpose  of  such  clubs  is  to  uplift  the  Italian  masses  of 
the  slums.  In  order  to  be  helpful  one  must  have  some 
training  and  experience  in  things  cultural  and  a  certain 
amount  of  free  time.  It  is  not  surprising  therefore  that 
we  find  the  bulk  of  such  members  to  be  either  profes- 
sionally employed  Italians  or  college  students. 

THE  ITALIAN  LEAGUE  FOR  SOCIAL  SERVICE 

This  league  was  organized  in  the  Richmond  Hill  set- 
tlement five  years  ago  to  help  the  young  generation  of 
Americans  of  Italian  extraction  acquire  a  thoro  knowl- 
edge of  the  problem  of  Americanizing  the  Italian  immi- 
grant, and  to  furnish  them  with  the  training  necessary 
to  become  the  leaders  among  their  own  people. 


164  THE  ITALIAN  CONTRIBUTION 

This  organization  was  started  by  Prof.  Racca  and  th  ; 
workers  of  the  Richmond  Hill  settlement.  This  house 
had  for  years  been  training  a  group  of  Americans  of 
Italian  extraction  to  go  forth  among  their  own  peoples 
and  disseminate  a  knowledge  of  the  good  which  they  had 
themselves  secured  through  the  more  enlightened 
methods  of  living  following  directly  from  their  more 
rapid  Americanization. 

The  basis  for  this  organization  was  the  realization 
that  the  most  effective  way  of  getting  at  the  problem 
of  welfare  and  upHft  of  the  American  immigrant  was  to 
instruct  the  young  generation  and  train  them  as  leaders, 
and  send  them  out  to  preach  the  gospel  of  Americaniza- 
tion as  reflected  in  a  higher  standard  of  living,  American 
citizenship,  and  a  speaking  and  reading  knowledge  of  the 
English  language. 

This  organization  has  done  some  very  effective  work, 
sending  out  twenty-five  teachers  to  various  institutions 
in  the  neighborhood  where  by  means  of  their  leadership 
classes  in  English  and  citizenship  were  started  and  are 
maintained  even  to-day. 

THE  ITALIAN  EDUCATIONAL  LEAGUE— The 
Italian  Educational  League  is  one  of  the  oldest  and  most 
influential  social  welfare  organizations  in  the  City  of 
New  York.  It  is  called  the  Italian  Educational  League 
because  the  major  part  of  its  work  is  an  attempt  to 
prolong  the  period  of  time  that  Americans  of  Italian 
extraction  attend  the  public  schools  of  this  city.  Its 
organization  was  due  largely  to  the  efforts  of  Dr.  Antonio 
Pisani,  former  member  of  the  Board  of  Education  who 
served  as  its  president  for  nine  years ;  and  also  Joseph 
Francolini,  President  of  the  Italian  Savings  Bank.  During 
the  ten  years  of  its  existence  the  League  has  accom- 
plished some  very  useful  work.  It  has  solicited  and 
collected  funds  by  which  it  has  been  possible  to  award 
at  least  thirty-five  scholarships.  These  scholarships  are 
given  in  the  form  of  weekly  stipends  to  parents,  thereby 
relieving  them  of  the  necessity  for  relying  upon  the 
child's  financial  support.  This  permits  the  child  to 
remain  in  school.  Its  methods  of  work,  according  to 
Dr.  Pisani,  its  president,  are  as  follows: 

L     The   Italian   League   studies   the   natural,   healthy 


TO  AMERICAN  DEMOCRACY  165 

interests   of  the   Italian   pupils,  and  provides   for   their 
encouragement  and  development. 

2.  Brings  to  attention  of  the  Italian  parents,  thru 
parents'  meetings,  personal  conferences  and  pamphlets, 
the  need  of  keeping  their  children  at  school  as  long  as 
possible. 

3.  Aids  worthy  pupils  who  are  in  need  so  that  pro- 
gress in  their  school  work  may  go  on  without  inter- 
ruption. 

4.  Aids  graduates  and  those  that  are  forced  to  leave 
school  to  find  positions  where  they  have  an  opportunity 
to  make  progress. 

5.  Brings  to  the  attention  of  the  proper  authorities 
the  needs  of  the  Italian  pupils. 

6.  Prepares  pamphlets  for  pupils  who  contemplate 
choosing  a  career. 

7.  Distributes  to  parents  leaflets,  papers  and  notices 
relative  to  the  business  opportunities  for  profitable  em- 
ployment open  to  their  children. 

8.  Collects  information  regarding  opportunities  for 
profitable  employment  for  graduates. 

9.  Prepares  for  the  use  of  employers  lists  of  suitable 
persons  by  the  aid  of  which  they  may  select  help. 

10.  Works  in  co-operation  with  Americans  for  the 
welfare  of  the  Italian  pupils. 

11.  Looks  into  complaints  of  Italian  parents  for  lack 
of  school  accommodations  or  tuition  for  their  children. 

12.  Has  qualified  persons  addressing  groups  of  chil- 
dren regarding  the  opportunities  in  different  trades  and 
professions. 

13.  Promotes  the  study  of  the  Italian  language  in  the 
public  school. 

14.  Represents  the  Italian  pupils  in  educational  meet- 

15.  Aids  parents  in  securing  such  modifications  ia  the 
school  curriculum  as  will  suit  local  conditions  and  tend 
to  bring  out  the  best  in  the  child. 

16.  Works  to  obtain  a  better  observance  of  the  provi- 
sions of  the  compulsory  educational  law  by  the  parents, 
relations  or  employers  of  Italian  children. 

Thruout  its  existence  the  League  has  conducted  over 
100  meetings  where  the  advantages  of  a  public  school 


166  THE  ITALIAN  CONTRIBUTION 

education,  of  knowing  the  English  language  and  of  be- 
coming American  citizens  from  an  economic,  social  and 
educational  standpoint  were  definitely  and  intelligently 
presented  to  their  people  by  the  educational  leaders  of 
Italian  blood  in  New  York  City.  For  over  two  years  the 
league  has  employed  a  visiting  teacher  who  went  into 
the  homes  of  the  Italian  parents  in  which  there  were 
mental  defectives  or  otherwise  deficient  children,  and  in- 
structed the  parents  as  to  the  proper  procedure  to  follow- 
in  order  to  secure  relief.  Over  two  hundred  and  fifty 
such  visits  were  recorded  that  later  were  made  the  sub- 
ject of  the  attention  of  proper  public  officials.  By  this 
means  many  unfortunates  received  the  benefits  of  pre- 
ventive measures  from  clinics,  hospitals,  asylums  and 
schools.  This  person  worked  under  the  direction  of  the 
inspector  of  undergraded  classes  and  looked  after  Italian 
cases  only. 

RELATION  AND  EFFECT  TO  COMMUNITY— This 
League  is  interested  not  only  in  educational  matters, 
but  in  all  questions  of  a  public  nature  as  relative  to  and 
affecting  Italian-speaking  people  of  this  city.  Regular 
educational  meetings  are  held  under  its  auspices  thruout 
the  five  boroughs.  The  connection  with  all  Italian-speak- 
ing communities  so  far  as  this  organization  is  concerned 
is  helpful  and  intimate. 

THE  ITALIAN  WELFARE  LEAGUE— The  Italian 
Welfare  League  was  organized  in  September  1913  by 
such  interested  men  as  Chevalier  John  Foster  Carr, 
Countess  Frabasilis,  Judge  Freschi,  Dr.  Pisani,  Rev.  Tor- 
natore,  etc.  The  younger  generation  took  hold  of  this 
movement  very  readily  and  actively,  so  that  to-day  the 
League  numbers  over  200  members. 

According  to  the  inscription  underneath  the  figure  of 
Dante  on  the  letterhead  of  this  organization,  the  purpose 
of  this  club  is  to  ''organize  young  men  and  women  of 
Italian  parentage  and  help  them  to  preserve  among 
themselves  and  to  disseminate  among  others  the  best 
that  the  genius  of  Italy  has  contributed  to  civilization." 

The  very  active  and  enterprising  president  of  this 
organization,  Peter  F.  Sabbatino,  states  that:  "The 
chief  activities  are  centered  at  Christodora  House,  147 


TO  AMERICAN  DEMOCRACY  167 

Avenue  B.  The  main  work  of  the  organization  consists 
in  having  men  and  women  prominent  in  the  social  and 
pubHc  life  of  the  city  come  down  to  our  meetings  and 
discuss  the  problems  of  the  city  as  they  affect  Ameri- 
cans of  Italian  descent ;  also  to  organize  young  men  and 
women  of  Italian  parentage  into  mutually  helpful  con- 
tacts socially,  educationally  and  politically." 

The  league  has  done  very  effective  work  as  is  testified 
by  clubs  organized  under  its  patronage  at  the  Christo- 
dora  House,  the  Labor  Temple,  the  Second  Avenue  Re- 
creational rooms  and  the  Chrystie  Street  Settlement.  The 
League  has  also  pushed  all  efforts  to  bring  about  a  fuller 
co-operation  among  clubs  scattered  thruout  the  city  in- 
terested in  bettering  the  social  conditions  of  people  of 
Italian  lineage. 

The  members  of  this  group  vary  in  age  from  twenty- 
one  to  forty,  and  are  scattered  thru  a  variety  of  fields  of 
employment  from  the  modest  post-office  clerk  to  those 
practising  in  the  different  professions,  such  as  law  and 
medicine.  Classes  are  held  in  civic  and  educational  work ; 
language  classes  are  held  as  the  occasion  warrants.  Dues 
average  $3.00  per  annum,  and  meetings  are  held  twice  a 
month. 

RELATION  AND  EFFECT  TO  COMMUNITY— The 
Italian  Welfare  League  affords  one  of  the  very  best 
instances  of  the  push-upward  that  an  enlightened,  so- 
cially spirited  and  public-minded  group  of  individuals 
can  contribute  towards  helping  the  peoples  of  the  race 
to  which  they  belong  and  those  who  perhaps  have  not 
had  the  similar  advantages  which  these  leaders  enjoy. 
In  a  word,  their  mission  to  such  people,  is  to  intelligently 
interpret  Americanism.  There  is  no  doubt  that  upon 
this  younger  generation  of  Americans  is  entrusted  the 
task  of  intelligent  interpretation  of  the  Italian  stock 
in  our  midst. 

THE  YOUNG  MEN'S  ITALIAN  EDUCATIONAL 
LEAGUE— The  Young  Men's  Italian  Educational  League 
is  composed  of  the  younger  generation  of  educated 
Americans  of  Italian  extraction  residing  thruout  the 
different  boroughs.  Its  meetings  were  held  at  the  time 
of  its  inception  at  Earl  Hall,  Columbia  University ;  from 


168  THE  ITALIAN  CONTRIBUTION 

this  they  moved  to  Government  House,  New  York  Uni- 
versity, and  now  regularly  meet  at  the  Italian  School  on 
Hester  and  Elizabeth  Streets.  This  league  does  a  work 
that  resembles  closely  that  done  by  the  Italian  Welfare 
League  and  the  Italian  Educational  League.  It  is  under 
the  able  leadership  of  F.  R.  Serri,  formerly  Associate 
Editor  of  Commerce  and  Finance  and  recently  a  candi- 
date for  the  office  of  Attorney-General  on  the  New  York 
State  Farmer-Labor  Party  ticket. 

The  League  has  at  present  forty-five  members,  three- 
fourths  of  whom  are  college  graduates  representing  Co- 
lumbia, New  York  University,  Syracuse,  Yale,  Colgate, 
City  College  of  New  York,  and  Fordham.  A  distribution 
of  the  membership  according  to  vocation  is : 

P.  S.  Teachers  4 

H.  S.   Teachers  8 

Graduate    (Univ.)    Students 3 

College    10 

Lawyers    5 

Doctors   4 

Micellaneous  11 

Total  45 

PURPOSE — The  purpose  of  this  club  according  to  a 
set  of  printed  aims  that  it  distributes  is  : 

"To  unite  all  intelligent  young  Italians  in  the  promo- 
tion of  a  greater  educational  interest  and  a  finer  social 
and  civic  loyalty  among  the  Italians  of  America." 
METHOD— 

1.  To  conduct  a  training  course  for  leaders  of  citizen- 
ship classes  for  Italian  students  every  Monday  night  at 
8:45  P.M. 

2.  To  publish  a  citizenship  book  that  will  be  adequate, 
scientific  in  spirit  and  thoroly  up-to-date. 

3.  To  write  articles  and  book  reviews,  and  to  trans- 
late articles  and  books  of  distinct  value  in  producing  a 
more  sympathetic  understanding  between  Italians  and 
Americans. 

4.  To  organize  and  furnish  leaders  for  citizenship 
and  English  classes  for  Italian  men  and  women  thruout 
the  city. 

5.  To  organize  a  monthly  conference  of  all  Italian 
educational,  civic  and  social  clubs  or  leagues,  in  order  to 


TO  AMERICAN  DEMOCRACY  169 

obtain  more  effective  co-operation  and  unity  of  action. 

6.  To  organize  or  co-operate  with  Italian  social  or 
civic  clubs  already  organized  in  all  the  high  schools  and 
colleges  in  New  York. 

7.  To  conduct  literary  meetings  in  order  to  develop 
greater  facility  in  speaking,  appreciation  of  things  intel- 
lectual and  a  keener  understanding  of  the  important 
social  and  civic  issues  of  the  day. 

The  League  has  organized  citizenship  classes  in  half 
a  dozen  schools  and  settlements  where  Italians  are  lo- 
cated in  noticeable  numbers.  It  has  donated  for  this  use 
the  services  of  four  or  five  instructors  in  civics  and  cit- 
izenship. This  League  particularly  has  been  very  active 
in  fostering  a  spirit  of  harmony  and  co-operation  be- 
tween the  various  welfare  organizations  and  Italian 
clubs  located  in  different  sections  of  the  city.  It  is 
responsible  also  for  the  opening  of  many  additional 
English  classes  for  foreigners  and  has  also  conducted 
under  its  auspices  numerous  debates,  socials,  family 
gatherings,  educational  conferences  and  public  meetings. 

Its  program  calls  for  periodical  public  meetings  on 
current  questions  in  politics,  government  and  other 
social  questions.  It  has  created  a  keener  appreciation 
for  books  and  reading  by  maintaining  an  open  shelf 
library  easily  accessible  to  all  members.  As  an  organi- 
zation it  has  contributed  frequently  and  generously  to 
the  financial  support  of  many  and  various  welfare  move- 
ments aiming  at  the  betterment  of  Italians  in  New 
York. 

RELATION  AND  EFFECT  TO  COMMUNITY— As 
was  said  of  the  club  described  before  the  nature  of  the 
adjustment  that  this  organization  makes  to  the  Italian 
communities  at  large  is  an  intelligent  and  socially  helpful 
one.  Not  only  are  there  being  developed  by  the  means 
of  the  valuable  lessons  that  are  being  taught,  qualities 
that  augur  well  for  America,  but  individually  the  mem- 
bers are  preparing  themselves  for  a  life  of  wider  use- 
fulness and  looking  forward  to  a  time  when  the  radius 
of  their  services  as  interpreters  of  the  American  spirit 
will  not  be  circumscribed  by  the  narrow  confines  of  a 
mere  local  community. 


170  THE  ITALIAN  CONTRIBUTION 

THE  COLLEGE  CIRCOLO 

Almost  every  college  where  Italians  attend  in  sufficient 
numbers  has  its  Italian  Circolo.*  When  organized 
within  the  walls  of  an  educational  institution  the  osten- 
sible purpose  of  such  a  club  is  to  stimulate  the  use  of  and 
interest  in  Italian  language,  Italian  culture,  Italian  art, 
etc.  Usually  tho  this  latter  aim  degenerates  so  that  the 
chief  aim  becomes  "social."  Almost  every  high  school 
has  a  Circolo  too,  usually  very  close  under  the  chaperon- 
ing wing  of  one  of  the  instructors  in  the  school,  and  not 
unlikely  a  teacher  of  Italian  extraction. 

PARTICULAR  GROUPS— Because  probably  more 
Americans  of  Italian  extraction  living  in  the  Greater  City 
have  secured  their  collegiate  training  at  Columbia  the 
Circolo  attached  to  this  institution  is  the  one  chosen  for 
a  detailed  analysis  here.  The  Columbia  University 
Italian  Circolo  is  perhaps  the  most  highly  developed  Ita- 
lian Circolo  connected  with  any  University  in  the  East 
or  thruout  the  United  States  for  that  matter.  Its  recent 
growth  has  been  phenomenal  in  expanding  membership 
from  a  bare  half  dozen  to  almost  sixty  members  within  a 
period  of  a  few  years. 

Eight  years  ago  when  the  writer  entered  Columbia 
College  as  a  freshman  there  was  no  Circolo  in  existence. 
A  few  students  on  the  basis  of  their  common  Italian 
ancestry  gathered  once  a  month  or  so  and  discussed  their 
own  individual  matters  rather  than  questions  of  Italian 
art,  langauge  or  culture.  Usually  this  ''talk-fest"  con- 
cluded a  few  hours  later  at  some  Italian  restaurant 
where  dinner  was  had.  A  few  hours  of  heated  and 
random  discussion  was  the  extent  of  organized  activity 
among  Americans  of  Italian  extraction  at  Columbia  Col- 
lege. The  writer  recalls  being  introduced  to  but  four  or 
five  such  individuals  which  was  the  maximum  of  those 
who  evidenced  any  interest  whatever  in  a  Circolo.  Pos- 
sibly a  few  others  were  scattered  thruout  various  other 
schools  of  the  university,  but  none  showed  sufficient 
interest  to  attend  even  these  informal  gatherings. 

♦Italian  word  for  club. 


TO  AMERICAN  DEMOCRACY  171 

The  year  1913  saw  the  organization  of  a  real  Italian 
Circolo  and  it  was  helped  a  great  deal  by  the  sympathetic 
co-operation  of  former  Dean  F.  P.  Keppel.  Quite  a  few 
freshmen  having  entered,  the  year  was  started  with  a 
regular  constitution  and  meetings  were  held  at  regular 
stated  intervals.  The  first  president  of  the  Circolo  was 
Garibaldi  La  Guardia,  formerly  instructor  at  the  Naval 
Academy  at  Annapolis.  The  membership  numbered 
about  twenty-five  at  that  time,  but  a  bare  dozen  or  so 
attended  these  first  meetings  and  showed  what  could 
be  called  "sustained  interest."  The  club  since  1913  has 
grown  considerably  in  size  and  strength  until  to-day 
there  are  fully  75  members  on  the  rolls.  Not  a  litttle  of 
the  recent  growth  of  the  Columbia  Circolo  is  due  to  the 
efforts  and  interest  of  Professor  John  L.  Gerig  of  the 
Romance  language  department. 

TYPE  OF  MEMBERS— The  average  age  of  these  col- 
legiate Americans  of  Italian  extraction  is  twenty-one. 
This  type  enters  college  as  a  rule  a  year  or  so  later  than 
the  average  American  of  other  descents.  This  is  so 
because  every  now  and  then  there  enters  an  individual 
who  has  had  a  break  in  his  education,  most  likely  one 
due  to  financial  reasons. 

If  Americans  of  Italian  extraction  go  to  Columbia  the 
chances  are  strong  that  they  have  had  also  their  second- 
ary schooling  in  the  greater  city's  high  schools,  and 
each  year  sees  a  wide  distribution  of  members  coming 
from  Brooklyn,  the  Bronx,  Staten  Island  and  many  from 
downtown  Italian  colonies  located  on  the  West  and  East 
Sides.  The  reason  that  a  goodly  representation  is  always 
had  from  residents  of  outlying  suburbs  is  that  usually 
they  represent  families  who  are  in  better  financial  cir- 
cumstances than  the  average  and  able  therefore  to  effect 
a  chang^e  of  residence.  Fully  seventy-five  per  cent  are 
residents  of  New  York  City.  Scatterings  are  always  to 
be  expected  from  such  suburbs  as  Bayonne,  Long  Island 
City,  Mt.  Vernon,  New  Rochelle  and  the  nearby  towns 
of  New  Jersey.  Elizabeth,  New  Jersey,  has  sent  several 
representatives  as  well  as  Danbury,  Connecticut,  and 
Mamaroneck,  New  York. 

The  pleasures  of  this  type  are  of  the  usual  college 


172  THE  ITALIAN  CONTRIBUTION 

type  varying  in  no  noticeable  degree.  The  usual  number 
of  dances,  socials,  entertainments,  etc.,  are  given  and 
supported.  To  make  any  distinction  in  this  sort  of 
thing  is  almost  impossible,  as  none  is  discernible.  It 
has  been  found  that  about  thirty  per  cent  of  these  Ameri- 
cans of  Italian  extraction  work  after  school  hours  to 
make  possible  their  continuing  in  school.  Not  a  few 
help  their  fathers  in  their  business  or  teach  at  night 
subjects  like  Spanish  or  Italian.  Dean  Keppel  likes  to 
quote  the  case  of  one  of  these  individuals  who  spent  his 
time  Saturdays  and  Sundays  working  in  his  brother's 
barber  shop,  as  representative  of  the  way  this  type  has 
to  struggle  to  get  ahead.  He  is  now  a  professor  in  one 
of  our  Southern  colleees. 

TYPE  OF  ACTIVITY— The  activity  of  these  individ- 
uals in  so  far  as  it  is  concerned  with  their  Circolo  life 
is  largely  recreational  in  character.  As  was  said  before 
the  main  purpose  of  the  club  which  was  to  stimulate  the 
use  and  interest  in  the  Italian  language  has  lapsed; 
to-day  the  main  effort  is  to  afford  social  contacts. 

The  club  does  nothing  in  athletics  as  an  organization 
tho  several  have  starred  for  Columbia  as  individuals. 
Some  of  the  prizes  which  went  to  members  of  the  Cir- 
colo were  the  Junior  Wrestling  Championship,  Varsity 
places  in  the  football,  basketball,  baseball  and  soccer 
football  teams.  ModarelH,  Ruffolo  and  De  Fronzo  are  to 
be  noted  in  this  connection. 

In  scholarship  the  club  has  established  a  unique  record, 
so  much  so  that  Dean  Keppel,  in  a  recent  article  has 
said  of  them : 

"Some  of  these  foreign  strains  are  very  interesting.  I 
think  the  keenest  among  them  at  present  is  the  Italian. 
In  earnestness  and  accomplishment  the  Italian  boys  are 
surpassing  even  the  Russian-Jewish  boys  and  that  not 
only  means  that  they  are  of  high  intelligence  but  that 
they  are  hard  workers.  They  get  along  very  well  with 
their  fellows  of  all  races  too.  We  never  have  a  Phi  Beta 
Kappa  election  which  does  not  result  in  the  choice  of 
from  three  to  five  Italians."  * 

*  Keppel,  F.  P.,  'The  College  Student  of  Today."  N.  Y.  Times, 
December  19.  1918. 


TO  AMERICAN  DEMOCRACY  173 

A  summary  of  the  scholastic  achievements  of  these 
members  is  contained  in  the  following  statistics  gathered 
by  the  ex-president  of  the  Circolo:* 


«4-l 

o 
"a 

3  rt 

X 

c 

o 

o 

u 

§5 

raduatin 
lass    in 
mbia  Co 

<U   CO 

V  u 
bog 
Qj3 

en 

^1 

>^ 

OU^ 

^« 

<^ 

Pmu 

<>!; 

WP4 

;t:;w 

OK 

1916 

77 

7 

13 

3 

6 

4 

5 

1915 

185 

3 

13 



10 

— 

1 

1 

1914 

170 

4 

7 

— 

9 

15 

2 

2 

1913 

188 

1 

12 

— 

7 

— 

— 

1 

1912 

152 

2 





8 

— 

— 

1 

1911 

141 

6 

1 

1 

9 

— 

— 

— 

— 

This  performance  at  Columbia  is  not  the  exception. 
There  have  come  to  the  writer's  attention  many  other 
similar  instances  at  other  universities.  Concretely,  these 
other  institutions  are  Wesleyan,  Yale,  Barnard,  Syra- 
cuse, New  York  University  (Heights)  and  City  College. 

A  word  may  be  said  here  for  the  College  of  the  City 
of  New  York  Circolo.  This  Circolo  was  organized  in 
1912,  and  its  membership  up  to  the  outbreak  of  the  war 
totalled  fifty  members.  Dues  are  seventy-five  cents  for 
one  academic  term,  and  meetings  are  held  weekly.  This 
organization  carries  on  a  program  that  is  essentially 
similar  to  that  described  for  the  Columbia  organization. 
Some  of  its  regular  feaures  are: 

(a)  An  annual  smoker. 

(b)  An  annual  play  (in  Italian)  and  dance  usually  in 
conjunction  with  the  Circolo  Italiano  made  up  of  the 
American  girls  of  Italian  extraction  at  Hunter  College. 
For  the  past  three  years  the  receipts  of  these  perfor- 
mances have  been  turned  over  to  the  Italian  Red  Cross 
and  have  netted  hundreds  of  dollars. 

(c)  A  yearly  banquet  in  honor  of  the  graduates  of 
Italian  blood. 

(d)  An  intercollegiate  basketball  tournament  of  games 

♦Nicholas  Bucci,  Italian  Scholarship  at  Columbia  —  The 
Italian  Intercollegiate,  Vol.  1,  No.  1. 


174  THE  ITALIAN  CONTRIBUTION 

played  between  the  Italian  Circolo  representing  the  dif- 
ferent colleges  in  this  section  of  the  country. 

This  club  has  had  the  consistent  attention  and  interest 
of  Prof.  Arbib-Costa.  Besides  this  from  1910  on  there 
have  been  quite  a  few  unusually  able  members  whose  in- 
fluence and  labors  made  the  City  College  Circolo  a  suc- 
cess from  the  start.  The  Italian  name  was  kept  at  a 
high  level  by  Viscardi,  Lodato  and  D'Andria  who  won 
prizes  in  various  fields.  In  public  speaking  Cristiano 
distinguished  himself  above  all  others.  Sabbatino  and 
Armore  and  Santangelo  won  places  on  the  debating 
teams.  A  few  Phi  Beta  Kappa  men  within  the  recent 
past  are  De  Luca,  Lodato,  laccuzzi,  D'Andria  and  Spag- 
nuoli.  Of  recent  years  the  City  College  has  steadily 
forged  ahead.  It  has  grown  in  numbers  and  increased 
its  activities  so  that  its  Circolo  represents  an  important 
part  of  the  Italian  college  life  of  this  city.  Of  the 
younger  men  Russo  and  Sava  are  particularly  active. 

The  Hunter  College  Circolo  is  also  in  a  very  flourishing 
condition,  and  numbers  over  forty  members.  These 
American-trained  Italian-speaking  students  are  all  vitally 
interested  in  things  American.  They  hold  regular  meet- 
ings and  usually  have  some  prominent  person  in  the 
Italian  colony  address  them.  They  conduct  dances  and 
give  plays  and  hold  many  informal  socials.  The  whole 
social  and  intellectual  life  is  distinguished  by  nothing 
that  is  different  from  the  general  routine  of  activity  as  is 
experienced  in  the  life  of  girls  of  other  descents.  Great 
praise  is  due  to  Prof.  Qara  Byrnes  for  her  unflagging 
interest  and  devotion  in  suggesting  ideas  and  maintain- 
ing interest  among  members. 

RELATION  AND  EFFECT  OF  CIRCOLO  LIFE  TO 
THE  ITALIAN  COMMUNITY— Because  the  members 
of  the  College  Circolo  come  from  communities  that  are 
scattered  there  is  no  definite  community  that  can  claim 
any  direct  contact  with  this  type  unless  it  be  the  college 
community.  Of  the  relation  that  this  American  of 
Italian  extraction  bears  to  the  college  community  Dean 
Keppel  said  to  the  writer  the  following: 

''Italian  students  with  their  optimism  and  joy  of  living 
are  almost  uniformly  desirable  associates  and  are  easily 


TO  AMERICAN  DEMOCRACY  175 

and  healthfully  assimilated  into  the  student  body.  There 
are  few  if  any  cases  of  social  indigestion  among  them." 

All  this  has  been  possible  only  because  this  type  of 
American  is  an  individual  who  has  been  given  a  chance 
in  life  such  as  the  parent  never  had.  The  encouraging 
thing  is  that  their  numbers  are  steadily  increasing. 

It  is  not  to  be  questioned  that  from  the  ranks  of 
the  members  of  the  Columbia,  City  College  and  other 
Circoli  located  in  universities  that  the  best  leadership  of 
the  Italian  population  will  come. 

PROFESSIONAL  CLUBS 

The  number  of  professionally  employed  Americans  of 
Italian  extraction  has  steadfastly  increased  in  New  York 
City  within  the  last  twenty  years.  Taking  the  three 
most  popular  professions,  teaching,  law  and  medicine,  as 
a  basis,  we  note  that  an  organization  exists  for  each  of 
the  three.  It  was  not  so  very  long  ago  when  the  number 
of  lawyers  of  Italian  extraction  practising  in  New  York 
City  could  be  counted  on  the  fingers  of  one  hand;  to-day 
the  number  is  over  five  hundred.  The  same  holds  true 
for  the  medical  and  teaching  professions. 

There  are  two  important  reasons  for  this  change:  (1) 
The  raised  economic  status  of  the  younger  as  compared 
with  the  older  generation;  (2)  the  universal  desire  for 
Italian  parents  to  have  a  son  who  is  a  professional 
man. 

PARTICULAR  GROUPS— The  Societa  Medica  Ita- 
liana  is  the  Italian  Medical  Society  in  the  city  and  was 
organized  in  1898  by  Dr.  Casella.  At  the  time  of  its 
inception  the  membership  totalled  thirty-five ;  to-day  this 
has  increased  to  one  hundred  and  fifty.  Dues  are  fixed 
at  four  dollars  annually  and  meetings  are  held  once 
every  month.  The  purpose  of  these  meetings  is  to  pro- 
vide social  and  professional  contacts  for  the  members. 
This  is  accomplished  in  various  ways.  Every  meeting 
is  made  the  occasion  of  a  lecture  on  some  phase  of 
medicine  by  one  of  the  members  or  possibly  an  invited 
speaker.  The  lectures  are  always  followed  by  discussion 
and  criticism. 

Another  important  feature  of  the  work  of  this  organ- 
i^aticm  is  the  patriotic  work  thatjt  does  for  the  families 


176  THE  ITALIAN  CONTRIBUTION 

of  recalled  Italian  soldiers.  Medical  advice  and  aid  is 
furnished  gratis  to  such  families  and  besides  this,  funds 
are  collected  from  time  to  time  which  are  distributed 
in  such  a  way  as  the  members  may  decide.  These  con- 
tributions usually  follow  two  forms : 

(1)  The  support  of  children  made  orphans  owing  to 
the  war; 

(2)  The  furnishing  of  field  operating  rooms  to  the 
Italian  Red  Cross.  Within  one  year  six  such  hospitals 
have  been  contributed. 

Almost  all  of  the  doctors  of  this  society  secured  their 
professional  training  in  Italy,  with  the  exception  of  some 
twenty  who  are  graduates  of  American  universities. 
Almost  all  specialties  in  medicine  are  represented. 

RELATION  AND  EFFECT  OF  MEDICAL  SO- 
CIETY TO  ITALIAN  COMMUNITY— It  seems  that  the 
medical  men  in  the  Italian  colony  have  taken  the  lead 
in  giving  their  organization  a  touch  of  the  "Social  Ser- 
vice" color.  Perhaps  this  is  because  their  work  brings 
them  so  frequently  into  the  most  intimate  contacts  with 
real  suffering  and  even  misery.  The  members  of  the 
"Societa  Medica  Italiana"  do  not  play  a  very  large  and 
important  part  in  the  activities  conducted  by  the 
younger  generation.  In  the  practice  of  their  profes- 
sions, however,  they  are  constantly  being  thrown  in 
with  this  rising  group  and  so  have  come  to  understand 
thoroughly  the  specific  conditions  surrounding  them. 
The  importance  of  this  contact  is  not  to  be  under- 
estimated. The  fact  remains  however  that  this  society 
is  composed  of  individuals  of  a  generation  that  is 
now  fairly  well  along  in  years  and  the  writer  does  not 
know  of  any  one  physician  representing  the  younger 
school  that  is  affiliated  with  it.  It  is  most  probable 
that  the  near  future  will  see  the  rise  of  a  new  Italian 
Medical  Society  and  that  its  constituency  will  be  largely 
recruited  from  the  younger  men  who  have  been  born 
in  this  country  or  who  have  come  here  when  very 
young.  Before  this  is  done  no  real  evaluation  of  the 
contribution  that  American  medical  men  of  Italian  ex- 
traction as  a  group  have  made,  is  possible.* 

♦Since  this  writing  there  has  been  forni'^d  the  Italo-Ameri- 
can  Medical  Society.   Its  president  is  Dr.  Osnato.   Dr.  Amaroso 


TO  AMERICAN  DEMOCRACY  177 

THE  ITALIAN  TEACHERS'  ASSOCIATION 

The  Italian  Teachers'  Association  was  organized  in 
1912  and  is  composed  of  American  men  and  women  who 
are  teaching  in  the  public,  high  schools,  and  colleges  of 
New  York  City  and  its  vicinity.  The  total  membership 
is  132.  The  following  table  shows  the  sex  and  grade  of 
schools  for  the  members : 

Male        Female 

Public  School 16  24 

High  School  17  8 

College  and  University 12  1 

Private  or  other  schools 32  12 

Fully  eighty  per  cent  of  the  members  of  this  organiza- 
tion are  products  of  American  schools  and  universities ; 
eighty  hold  American  degrees.  The  purpose  of  the  asso- 
ciation is  to  disseminate  a  wider  knowledge  and  appre- 
ciation of  the  ItaHan  language  and  Italian  culture  among 
not  only  Americans  but  also  among  the  Italians  them- 
selves. For  this  reason  the  constitution  states  that  Ita- 
lian is  to  be  the  language  in  which  official  business  of  the 
organization  is  to  be  conducted. 

The  primary  purpose  of  the  Italian  Teachers'  Associa- 
tion is  to  agitate  to  the  end  that  Italian  be  introduced 
into  the  high  school  curriculum.  Meetings  are  held 
monthly. 

Students  in  the  various  schools  are  urged  to  study  the 
language  of  their  fathers.  The  main  reason  for  this  is  to 
avoid  the  very  abrupt  break  between  the  old  and  the 
young  generations,  to  which  break  ignorance  of  Italian 
contributes  no  small  part. 

At  various  intervals  public  gatherings  are  held  and 
the  distinguished  men  of  the  Italian  colony  are  gathered 
together  for  the  purpose  of  reminding  the  new  genera- 
tion of  the  great  debt  they  owe  to  the  land  of  their 
forefathers.     Great  emphasis  is  placed  upon  the  neces- 

is  secretary  and  some  of  its  most  active  organizers  are  Drs. 
De  Vecchi,  Rossano,  Orlando,  Di  Palma  and  Salvatore.  Meet- 
ings are  held  monthly  on  which  occasion  one  or  more  speakers 
present  a  paper  on  a  topic  related  to  the  profession  of  the 
members. 


178  THE  ITALIAN  CONTRIBUTION 

sity  of  being  able  not  only  to  read  and  speak  but  to 
write  the  Italian  language. 

RELATION  AND  EFFECT  OF  THIS  ORGANIZA- 
TION TO  COMMUNITY— The  Italian  Teachers'  Asso- 
ciation is  based  upon  a  principle  that  is  very  praise- 
worthy—  namely  of  seeking  to  carry  over  into  the 
American  life  of  Italian-speaking  people  those  points  in 
the  life  and  customs  of  Italy  that  deserve  preservation, 
perpetuation  and  imitation.  Inasmuch  as  the  grip  of 
things  Italian  upon  the  life  of  these  Americans  is  slender 
at  best  and  in  no  way  represents  any  conflicts  or  com- 
petition with  influences  and  opportunities  that  make  for 
Americanism  —  the  contact  is  on  the  whole  good.  In 
some  individual  cases  an  extreme  Italian  nationalist  may 
seek  to  subordinate  things  American,  but  this  is  the 
exception  rather  than  the  rule.  An  excellent  opportunity 
is  offered  on  the  other  hand  for  these  individuals  to  de- 
rive the  advantages  of  two  civilizations  or  of  two  peoples 
that  are  in  some  things  widely  different. 

THE  ITALIAN  LAWYERS'  ASSOCIATION— The 
Italian  Lawyers'  Association  was  organized  in  1905  in 
order  that  American  lawyers  of  Italian  extraction  prop- 
erly organized  could  better  look  after  the  political,  edu- 
cational, recreational  and  civic  needs  of  the  Italian- 
speaking  constituencies  they  represented. 

In  a  few  years  this  organization  had  grown  to  very 
ambitious  proportions.  Regular  meetings  were  held  at 
which  an  address  was  delivered  usually  by  some  promi- 
nent attorney. 

Under  the  auspices  of  the  Italian  Lawyers'  Association 
various  public  gatherings  were  held  in  different  parts 
of  the  city  and  at  these  meetings  the  Italian-speaking 
populace  were  told  of  the  ways  they  could  go  about 
remedying  social  and  economic  and  other  conditions  that 
needed  improvement  in  their  communities.  In  short, 
the  work  of  the  Association  betook  a  social  service  rather 
than  any  strictly  professional  coloring. 

RELATION  AND  EFFECT  TO  COMMUNITY— 
When  the  Italian  Lawyers'  Association  was  started  it 
was  intended  that  it  be  a  general  information  center  to 
Italian-speaking  people  on  all  matters   involving  legal 


.   TO  AMERICAN  DEMOCRACY  179 

procedure.  However,  this  purpose  was  strayed  from  and 
it  relapsed  into  a  loose  and  inactive  society.  The  war 
helped  this  disintegrating  process  until  to-day  the  organi- 
zation is  more  an  organization  in  name  than  anything 
else. 

CIRCOLO  NAZIONALE  ITALIANO— The  Italian 
National  Club  was  organized  eight  years  ago  for  the  pur- 
pose of  providing  a  place  where  individuals  of  Italian 
ancestry  could  meet  and  know  one  another.  It  was 
started  very  humbly  at  5  W.  16th  Street  but  the  mem- 
bership kept  growing  until  larger  quarters  became  neces- 
sary, and  so  the  club  moved  to  11  E.  44th  Street.  Several 
years  later  the  wonderful  success  with  which  the  "Cir- 
colo"  was  meeting  necessitated  its  removal  to  the  four- 
story  building  at  119  W.  48th  Street. 

The  chief  organizers  of  the  club  were  Celestino  Piva, 
the  wealthy  silk  manufacturer ;  Tocci,  the  banker ;  Solari, 
the  steamship  agent;  Judge  Freschi ;  Dr.  Stella,  and  Mr. 
Pizzarro,  of  the  Gerry  Society. 

Dues  are  $100  a  year  and  the  membership  includes  the 
better  known  Italians  and  Americans  of  Italian  blood 
in  the  country  such  as  Marconi,  Caruso,  Gatti-Casazza, 
D'Amato,  Morisini,  Fabbri,  etc. 

As  a  rule  Italian  is  the  chief  language  spoken,  tho  but 
25  out  of  a  total  membership  of  350  are  not  American 
citizens. 

The  chief  activities  of  the  Circolo  Nazionale  are : 

1.  To  foster  a  deeper  appreciation  for  things  Italian. 

2.  To  provide  social  intercourse  for  its  members. 

3.  To  furnish  a  place  where  non-resident  members 
can  eat  and  sleep  while  in  New  York. 

4.  The  periodic  holding  of  dances,  dinners  and  other 
receptions  to  prominent  Italians  residing  in  New  York 
and  well-known  Americans  who  were  interested  in  things 
Italian. 

The  membership  includes  Americans  of  other  descents 
than  Italian.  This  element  in  actual  numbers  is  twenty 
of  the  324  odd  members.  The  total  membership  dis- 
tribution according  to  residence  is : 


180  THE  ITALIAN  CONTRIBUTION 

Boroughs  Number  of  Members 

Manhattan  108 

Bronx    62 

Brooklyn  94 

Queens  21 

Out  of  Town  12 

27 

Total  324 

Distribution  according  to  professions,  the  member- 
ship was  as  follows : 

Lawyers    52 

Doctors   61 

Business    123 

Singers    11 

Manufacturers  13 

Bankers    17 

Steamship  Agents  16 

Miscellaneous  31 

Total  324 

RELATION  AND  EFFECT  TO  COMMUNITY— The 
"Circolo  Nazionale"*  is  the  social  organization  "par  ex- 
cellence" of  the  Italian-speaking  population.  Its  influence 
is  not  limited  to  New  York  City  for  its  membership  roll 
shows  that  fully  one-fourth  of  the  members  come  from 
out  of  town. 

Economically  this  organization  contributes  nothing  to 
the  welfare  of  the  members  of  the  Italian  colony  except- 
ing as  it  lends  its  rooms  at  times  to  different  organiza- 
tions for  "welfare"  purposes.  It  is  essentially  a  "rich 
man's"  club  as  the  $100  annual  dues  show.  As  indivi- 
duals however,  the  members  of  this  group  are  always  in- 
tensely interested  in  all  attempts  at  uplift  and  relief  for 
Italians  wherever  attempted. 

Educationally  the  majority  represent  a  training  and 
discipline  that  is  Italian  rather  than  American.  This  is 
shown  by  the  fact  that  the  former  language  is  more  com- 
monly used  in  the  club's  quarters.  However,  their  train- 
ing  is   broad   and    shows    not    only    sympathy    for   but 

*  The  name  of  this  organization  has  recently  been  changed 
to  the  Italian  Metropolitan  Club  and  has  moved  its  headquar- 
ters to  the  Hotel  Netherlands.  Its  president  is  Cav.  A.  Port- 
folio and  its  secretary  Luigi  Allesandria. 


TO  AMERICAN  DEMOCRACY  181 

understanding  as  well  of  all  things  that  are  American. 

Socially  the  sphere  in  which  the  whole  setting  of  this 
organization  is  cast  is  distinctly  removed  from  that 
which  the  majority  of  the  Italian  people  not  only  in 
New  York  City  but  in  the  United  States  know  and  are 
living  in.  Yet  this  setting  is  not  American,  While  an 
Italian  who  has  just  arrived  would  have  disclaimed  it, 
it  nevertheless  is  foreign.  This  "foreign"  coloring  mili- 
tates against  a  full  blown  appreciation  of  Americanism. 

This  organization  has  never  tried  its  hand  at  political 
questions  but  exists  almost  entirely  as  a  high-class 
gentlemen's  club  where  one  can  go  after  the  day's  work 
is  done  and  enjoy  a  good  cigar  or  have  dinner  and  relaxa- 
tion. 


182  THE  ITALIAN  CONTRIBUTION 

CHAPTER    XIX 
MISCELLANEOUS  ORGANIZATIONS 

INTRODUCTION— It  is  not  difficult  to  show  that 
organized  activities  conducted  by  Americans  of  Italian 
extraction  run  thru  the  entire  gamut  of  all  co-operative 
effort  possible.  As  Roberts  says,  "the  men  of  the  new 
immigration  are  much  given  to  organizations  of  various 
kinds."* 

Neither  is  the  descendant  of  the  Italian  lacking  in 
this  same  trait  so  that  instead  of  a  fundamental  lack  of 
organization  we  see  what  almost  amounts  to  a  super- 
fluity of  organization  effort.  Organizations  covering 
the  same  narrow  field  are  duplicated  many  times  over. 
To  the  question,  does  the  American  of  Italian  extraction 
co-operate,  we  answer  emphatically,  "Yes,"  and  in  so 
doing  point  out  in  addition  to  those  previously  discussed 
a  miscellaneous  number  of  different  institutions  not  yet 
noted. 

DRAMATICS 

THE  MARIONETTE  THEATRE— Italian  dramatics 
has  had  a  rather  checkered  history  or  career  in  New 
York  City.  Attempts  at  the  reproduction  of  Italian 
operas,  plays,  etc.,  have  been  numerous  and  frequent.  In 
New  York  City  at  present  there  exist  two  Italian  thea- 
tres on  the  lower  East  Side  supported  by  their  Italian 
adherents.  Their  plays,  however,  are  given  in  Italian 
and  their  whole  background  presupposes  a  knowledge 
and  appreciation  of  things  fundamentally  Italian.  For 
the  most  part  this  appreciative  background  is  lacking 
in  the  many  thousands  of  Americans  of  Italian  extrac- 
tion living  in  New  York  City.  They  have  neither  time 
nor  opportunity  to  develop  such  an  appreciation.  In  a 
great  measure  this  deficiency  follows  from  their  slender 
grip  on  the  Italian  language.  Consequently,  it  is  certain 
that  such  dramatics  as  exist  are  conducted  by  Italians  — 
for  those   individuals  of  Italian   blood  that   are   preem- 

♦  Roberts,  Peter,  "The  New  Immigration,"  p.  187. 


TO  AMERICAN  DEMOCRACY  183 

inently  Italian.  They  hold  no  place  and  offer  little  value 
to  Americans  of  Italian  extraction.  These  individuals 
secure  their  dramatic  pleasures  by  attending  the  Ameri- 
can theatres. 

There  has  been,  however,  one  attempt  by  an  American 
of  Italian  extraction  to  present  one  phase  of  Italian 
drama  to  Americans.  The  Marionette  theatre  was 
started  by  Remo  Bufano  some  eight  years  ago  in  the 
well  known  Richmond  Hill  Settlement  on  Macdougal 
Street.  Playlets  were  given  both  in  English  and  Italian. 
Little  tales  or  stories  of  old  Italian  life  were  dramatized 
These  playlets  have  a  great  hold  not  only  on  the  Italian 
populace,  but  on  all,  for  it  revives  one's  appreciation  of 
the  chivalrous  times  of  the  past  and  presents  an  educa- 
tive influence  that  is  as  real  as  it  is  novel.  In  this  partic- 
ular instance  the  director  of  the  Marionette  Theatre 
labored  under  great  financial  difficulties.  He  constructed 
his  own  marionettes  and  was  forced  to  work  under  the 
most  trying  of  circumstances.  A  marionette  is  a  wooden 
figure  made  to  represent  some  character  of  history, 
usually  a  knight,  a  priest,  a  dragon,  or  an  ogre,  etc.  The 
marionette  or  wooden  puppet  is  handled  by  means  of  a 
wire  which  is  attached  at  the  top-most  part  of  the  figure 
and  is  made  to  go  thru  the  motions  descriptive  of  the 
words  which  the  marionette  operator  utters. 

The  recent  spread  of  moving  pictures  has  effectively 
eclipsed  any  possible  extended  interest  in  marionettes,  so 
that  aside  from  the  value  in  preserving  the  traditional 
folk  lore  and  legendary  tales  upon  which  the  marionette 
playlets  are  based,  the  educational  value  is  not  suffi- 
ciently apparent  to  most  people  to  warrant  its  having 
any  extended  vogue. 

MUSICAL 

INTERNATIO^NAL  FESTIVAL  (ITALIAN  DIVL 
SION)— Music  is  innate  with  the  Italian.  The  result  is 
that  almost  every  social  institution  or  organization 
created  by  these  people  whether  educational,  religious, 
recreational,  etc.,  dabbles  in  it.  There  is  no  special 
musical  org-anization  of  note  in  the  city  that  caters 
exclusively  to  Italians,  but  one  can  be  sure  to  find  in 


184  THE  ITALIAN  CONTRIBUTION 

every  Italian-speaking  church  a  choir,  and  in  every 
settlement,  a  song  or  glee  club. 

It  is  true,  however,  that  of  late  Italians  have  gone 
into  the  musical  field  from  a  commercial  angle  so  that 
the  Italian  colonies  thruout  the  city  are  dotted  with 
teachers  of  music.  These  instructors  gather  about  them 
a  group  of  pupils  and  give  individual  instruction  that  is 
very  effective.  There  are  at  least  five  hundred  music 
instructors  or  so-called  professors  of  music  among  Ita- 
lian-speaking people  in  the  greater  city. 

A  recent  attempt  to  organize  the  Italians  effectively 
so  that  they  could  present  their  national  music  and  airs 
in  an  interesting  and  instructive  way  is  the  attempt 
started  by  Mrs.  Kenneth  J.  Muir,  of  48  West  58th  Street. 
Mrs.  Muir  organized  the  International  Musical  Festival 
Chorus  which  included  an  important  section  "composed 
of  foreign  born  citizens  and  their  descendants."  In  this 
section  there  is  an  Italian  division. 

The  musical  director  for  this  division  is  the  well  known 
musical  Prelate  Francesco  Magliocco.  Under  the  leader- 
ship of  Father  Magliocco  it  was  possible  recently  to  pre- 
sent at  Carnegie  Hall  a  concert  of  exclusively  Italian 
numbers.  The  splendid  success  that  attended  this  virgin 
effort  affords  certain  promise  that  repetitions  will  be 
frequent. 

If  it  is  true,  as  the  symposium  in  a  later  chapter  shows, 
that  it  is  thru  his  artistic  sense  that  the  American  of 
Italian  extraction  contributes  most,  then  undoubtedly  it 
is  this  musical  sense  that  needs  a  great  deal  more  of 
proper  drawing  out  and  opportunity  for  development. 
Steps  should  be  taken  to  remove  this  "art  sense"  from 
the  commercialized  setting  into  which  it  is  rapidly  being 
surrounded.  This  festival  chorus  is  a  step  headed  in  the 
right  direction.  We  have  been  lax  in  conserving  the 
immigrant  heritage  which  our  various  immigrants  have 
to  contribute.  In  the  case  of  the  Italian  particularly  we 
have  been  profligate  with  his  artistic  heritage.  There  is 
no  doubt  that  the  Americans  of  Italian  extraction  bring 
to  us  all  the  innate  musical  potentialities  of  their  ances- 
tors. It  remains  for  America  to  permit  them  to  become 
fruitful. 


TO  AMERICAN  DEMOCRACY  185 

EDUCATIONAL 

THE  VERDI  LADIES  AUXILIARY— Was  organized 
in  1910  for  the  purpose  of  raising  funds  sufficient  to  erect 
a  school  in  the  "Little  Italy"  settlement  in  East  Harlem. 
The  idea  was  to  duplicate  a  center  for  educational  and 
social  welfare  work  uptown  as  is  at  present  being  suc- 
cessfully conducted  downtown  at  the  Italian  School  on 
Hester  and  Elizabeth  Streets. 

The  Verdi  Auxiliary  is  conducted  on  thoroly  modern 
club  lines,  and  is  continually  active.  Its  meeting  place  is 
the  Italian  School  where  monthly  gatherings  are  held. 
The  Verdi  Club  is  headed  by  the  enterprising  Mrs.  Frank 
Zunino.  In  this  she  is  assisted  by  the  very  able  Miss 
Frugone,  daughter  of  the  owner  and  editor  of  the  well- 
known  Italian  newspaper  "11  Bolletino  Delia  Sera."  The 
members  are  all  women  and  number  about  fifty.  Their 
homes  are  scattered  in  various  parts  of  the  city  and  its 
suburbs.  The  majority  of  the  members  are  of  Genoese 
descent. 

The  members  of  the  Verdi  Auxiliary  are  examples  of 
the  finest  type  of  Americans  of  Italian  extraction  in  our 
midst.  They  come  from  homes  where  the  people  are 
comfortably  well  off.  Not  a  few  have  been  able  to  get 
a  very  good  training.  The  group  includes  graduates 
from  Barnard  College,  College  of  Mt.  St.  Vincent, 
Ursinus,  and  numerous  private  schools. 

The  main  object  of  the  Auxiliary  is  to  raise  funds 
for  a  large  school  or  settlement  to  be  called  the  Verdi 
School  in  Harlem,  and  in  their  endeavors  to  do  this  they 
have  recourse  to  a  variety  of  means. 

During  the  last  year  the  chief  means  resorted  to  was 
the  giving  of  "periodic"  teas  at  the  Italian  National 
Club.  A  substantial  part  of  the  fee  charged  was  devoted 
to  the  fund.  These  teas  were  the  occasion  for  dancing 
and  social  intercourse  among  the  higher  set  of  the  Italian 
colony.  Last  year  the  receipts  from  this  source  netted 
thousands  of  dollars. 

At  other  times  various  other  expedients  are  employed. 
Dances,  picnics,  dramatic  plays,  etc.,  are  prepared  by  the 
members.     It   is   not   uncommon   to   split   the   proceeds 


186  THE  ITALIAN  CONTRIBUTION 

with  another  organization,  such  as  the  Red  Cross.  This 
is  an  effort  that  is  very  commendable.  The  Verdi  Auxi- 
liary is  based  upon  a  sound  principle  and  the  future  will 
see  changed  into  a  reality,  that  which  is  now  with  them  a 
hope ;  namely,  the  erection  of  a  modern  equipped  school 
building  and  social  center  for  the  Italian-speaking  people 
of  Harlem. 

This  organization  properly  restricts  its  activities  to 
those  Italians  and  Americans  that  have  money.  In  this 
way  only  can  it  accomplish  its  purpose  quickly. 

THE  ITALIAN  INTERCOLLEGIATE  ASSOCIA- 
TION— This  is  a  federation  of  the  college  circoli  that 
are  located  in  the  universities  in  the  vicinity  of  New 
York  City.  Its  constituent  clubs  take  in  Columbia  Uni- 
versity, City  College  of  New  York,  Hunter  College, 
New  York  University  and  Polytechnic.  In  scope  the 
Italian  Intercollegiate  Association  includes  all  that 
does  the  Menorah  Intercollegiate  Association  among 
the  collegiate  Jews,  minus  its  emphasis  upon  the 
question  of  religion  and  its  now  current  emphasis  upon 
a  national  state. 

Stated  in  the  words  of  the  President  of  the  Associa- 
tion A.  J.  Armore  "the  Italian  Intercollegiate  Associa- 
tion was  organized  to  provide  the  college-bred  American 
of  Italian  extraction,  both  men  and  women,  who  are 
destined  by  force  of  circumstances  to  become  the  leaders 
of  their  people  —  an  opportunity  to  show  others  that 
the  spirit  of  co-operation  which  is  instilled  in  them  during 
their  college  years  will  be  a  dominant  factor  in  their 
later  activities  in  connection  with  the  problems  of  their 
race."* 

Membership  in  the  Federation  is  by  club,  not  by  indi- 
viduals. A  yearly  fee  is  required  of  each  club  which 
sends  two  delegates  to  an  Intercollegiate  Club  Council. 
The  Intercollegiate  Club  Council  has  as  its  chief  aim, 
the  welding  together  of  these  clubs  and  their  consti- 
tuencies. To  accomplish  this,  two  activities  were  de- 
termined upon,  (1)  the  holding  of  one  major  social  event 
during  the  calendar  year ;  (2)  the  publication  of  a  journal 
or  magazine. 

♦Italian  Intercollegiate,  No.  1,  Vol.  1,  Passim. 


TO  AMERICAN  DEMOCRACY  187 

Both  these  activities  had  been  actively  under  way 
when  the  war  broke  out,  crippHng  this  enterprise.  During 
its  two  years  of  existence  an  annual  ball  was  held,  the 
first  at  the  Hotel  Netherlands  and  the  second  at  the 
Hotel  Majestic.  Both  these  affairs  were  attended  by  the 
intellectual  flower  of  the  Americans  of  Italian  extrac- 
tion in  New  York  City,  and  proved  an  immense  success 
from  every  standpoint. 

The  publication  of  the  Italian  Intercollegiate  w^as 
started  shortly  afterwards  with  the  following  aim.s 
printed  on  the  cover  sheet  of  its  inaugural  issue,  viz : 

"Aims  of  the  "Italian  Intercollegiate." 

1.  To  publish  a  periodical  of  excellent  worth  and 
quality  and  so  provide  for  the  intelligent  expression  of 
the  growing  co-operative  spirit  of  Italian-Americans. 
This  by : 

(a)  Devoting  its  pages  to  Italian  and  Italian-American 
literature,  art,  social,  educational  and  welfare  work. 

(b)  Providing  a  permanent  and  intelligent  means  of 
creating  an  "esprit  de  corps"  among  the  Italians  in  New 
York  City. 

2.  To  effectively  protest  against  the  too  rapid  lines 
of  separation  between  the  growing  generation  and  the 
finer  products  of  Italian  culture,  art,  and  industry.  Fur- 
thermore, to  help  provide  for  the  permanent  retention 
in  American  culture  of  all  forms  of  Italian  achievement 
that  have  stood  the  test  of  time  with  respect  to  worth 
and  value  and  should  meet  with  greater  diffusion. 

3.  To  attempt  to  give  to  the  growing  group  of  Italian- 
Americans  a  sense  of  direction  in  their  co-operation  so 
as  to  make  for  a  more  rational  spirit  of  unity. 

4.  To  conduct  a  systematic  literature  campaign  tend- 
ing to  make  the  Italian-American  better  understood. 

5.  To  help  prepare  the  soil  of  Italian-Americanism 
educationally,  socially  and  politically  out  of  which  must 
spring  a  better  love  and  appreciation  for  America  and 
thins;s  American. 

RELATION  AND  EFFECT  TO  COMMUNITY~It  is 
this  group  that  is  to  furnish  the  element  of  leadership 
for  the  one  and  one-half  million  Italian-speaking  people 


188  THE  ITALIAN  CONTRIBUTION 

of  the  United  States.  It  is  of  too  recent  origin  and  the 
war  has  served  to  interrupt  its  work  so  that  no  ade- 
quate conclusions  can  be  drawn  with  respect  to  its 
effectiveness.* 

THE  ITALIAN  SCHOLARSHIP  FUND— was  organ- 
ized in  1917  by  a  committee  of  Americans  of  Italian 
extraction  interested  in  helping  a  greater  number  of  the 
younger  Americans  to  continue  longer  in  school.  By 
means  of  small  regular  allowances  to  the  family  of  a 
deserving  child,  the  stay  of  the  latter  in  school  was  made 
possible.  The  chairman  of  the  committee  distributing 
the  fund  is  Dr.  Racca ;  treasurer,  Luigi  Criscuolo.  To 
date  the  fund  has  collected  several  hundred  dollars  and 
has  awarded  several  scholarships. 

DANTE  ALIGHIERI  SOCIETY— The  Dante  Alighieri 
Society  of  New  York  is  a  branch  of  the  mother  society 
of  the  same  name  located  at  Rome,  Italy.  It  was  incor- 
porated in  September  1912,  and  according  to  its  president 
Joseph  Francolini, — "it  aims  to  propagate  the  Italian  lan- 
guage and  culture  among  foreigners  everywhere.  The 
New  York  Society  holds  meetings  once  a  month.  By 
means  of  literature  and  propaganda  measures  this  society 
helps  to  keep  alive  the  national  prestige  of  Italy,  and 
to  maintain  the  Italian  nationality  among  its  immigrants, 
educating  them  to  those  healthy  principles  of  liberty  and 
of  unity  of  which  Dante  Alighieri  was  the  great  apostle. 
Morally  it  depends  for  its  support  upon  the  Central  Com- 
mittee located  in  Italy ;  financially  each  branch  is  self- 
supporting." 

The  Dante  Alighieri  Society  in  Italy  is  composed  of 
the  most  prominent  men  in  politics,  science,  and  art.  In 
America,  some  very  splendid  branches  have  been  organ- 
ized. The  Jersey  City  Society  is  perhaps  the  most 
flourishing  of  any  in  this  country.  The  more  scholarly 
element   of   the   Italian   colony   finds   its   way   into   this 


*  Recently  the  Intercollegiate  has  taken  up  anew  its  original 
plan  of  activities  and  thanks  to  the  interest  of  Commendatore 
Portfolio,  Dr.  De  Vecchi  and  others  will  soon  be  able  to  push 
to  a  successful  issue   quite  a  few  of  its  original  undertakings. 


TO  AMERICAN  DEMOCRACY  189 

organization  and  its   meetings  instance   always   a  high 
quality  of  Italian  literary  values. 

RELATION  AND  EFFECT  OF  DANTE  ALIGHIERI 
SOCIETY  TO  COMMUNITY— In  the  Dante  Alighieri 
Society  we  have  the  only  example  where  an  organization 
seeks  deliberately  and  openly  to  disseminate  the  Italian 
language,  Italian  prestige,  and  Italian  nationality  among 
Italian  immigrants  in  this  country.  It  is  safe  to  say, 
however,  that  to  the  "savant  in  art,  science  and  politics" 
alone  if  to  any  one  at  all,  can  a  mission  of  this  sort  be 
entrusted  which  will  in  no  wise  run  counter  to  an  un- 
qualified appreciation  of  Americanism.  Their  message 
is  not  to  raise  Italy  by  belittling  America,  but  rather  to 
inculcate  a  broader  and  firmer  grasp  of  things  American 
by  instilling  in  such  individuals  a  deeper  appreciation 
of  the  country  of  their  origin. 

DANTE  LEAGUE  OF  AMERICA 

The  Dante  League  of  America  was  organized  several 
years  ago  by  Mrs.  Heloise  Durant  Rose.  It  includes  in 
its  membership  perhaps  more  Americans  than  Italians. 
It  is  an  instance  of  almost  purely  Anglo-Saxon  effort  to 
effect  a  wider  appreciation  of  Italian  art  and  culture,  and 
in  this  it  centers  its  attention  for  the  most  part  upon  the 
work  and  literature  of  Dante.  The  purpose  of  the  league 
is  to  promote  the  knowledge  and  study  of  Dante,  his 
works,  language,  literature  and  country,  by  popular  lec- 
tures, and  to  prepare  for  a  celebration  in  1921  of  the 
sixth  hundreth  anniversary  of  his  death. 

The  league  has  already  established  a  chapter  at  Buf- 
falo. The  president  is  William  Roscoe  Thayer,  its  vice- 
presidents  are  Henry  Dwight  Sedgwick  and  Prof.  Chris- 
tian Gauss  of  Princeton. 

ANNUAL   DUES 

Regular  members  $  2.00 

College  and  University  Students 1.00 

Patrons 50.00 

Sustaining  members  10.00 

Benefactors 25.00 

Life  members 100.00 


190  THE  ITALIAN  CONTRIBUTION 

Plans  are  already  begun  for  the  Dantian  celebration 
to  be  held  in  1921  which  will  be  an  event  of  national 
importance  and  will  enlist  the  talent  and  interest  of 
many  individuals  and  organizations  interested  in  Italy. 

RELATION  AND  EFFECT  OF  DANTE  LEAGUE  TO 
ITALIAN-SPEAKING  COMMUNITIES— It  is  a  ques- 
tion whether  this  essentially  literary  effort  will  reach 
down  far  enough  to  waken  any  deep  and  sustained 
interest  on  the  part  of  the  more  numerous  classes  of 
Americans  of  Italian  extraction  in  the  literature  and 
philosophy  of  Dante.  As  a  matter  of  fact  such  is  not  the 
intention  of  the  league.  Their  aim  is  first  of  all  to 
disseminate  among  all  a  wider  and  deeper  appreciation 
of  Dante,  his  works,  and  language.  This  organization 
has  a  sociological  value  and  so  is  listed  here  because  it  is 
from  just  such  activities  as  these  that  the  real  worth  of 
a  nation,  whether  it  be  Italy  or  any  other  nation,  may 
be  gauged.  The  unfortunate  thing  tho,  is  that  a  more 
extended  support  to  the^  Dante  League  of  America  does 
not  come  from  Italians  themselves. 

FRATERNAL 

ALPHA  PHI  DELTA— There  are  three  Greek  frater- 
nities formed  by  Americans  of  Italian  extraction  and 
located  in  New  York  City.  As  fraternities  are  secretive, 
a  good  deal  of  the  matter  pertaining  to  their  more  inti- 
mate composition  and  history  may  not  be  divulged  here. 
In  few  if  any  ways,  however,  excepting  for  that  of  a 
''common  lineage"  are  they  in  any  way  different  from 
other  fraternities. 

The  Alpha  Phi  Delta  Fraternity  is  located  at  Columbia 
College  and  is  now  in  its  fifth  year.  The  Alpha  Chapter 
is  located  at  Syracuse  University.  The  purpose  of  Alpha 
Phi  Delta  is  to  develop  the  social,  educational,  physical 
and  moral  welfare  of  its  members  by  the  usual  program 
of  fraternity  life.  The  Chapter  house  is  located  at  600  W. 
113th  Street.  The  number  of  members  at  its  date  of 
inception,  three  years  ago  was  fifteen;  to-day  this  has 
grown  to  thirty-five. 


TO  AMERICAN  DEMOCRACY  191 

The  first  prerequisite  for  membership,  of  course,  is 
affiliation  with  Columbia.  About  fifty  per  cent  of  the 
members  are  doing  work  in  the  University's  Graduate 
School,  chiefly  in  the  College  of  Physicians  and  Sur- 
geons. There  has  been  a  strange  tendency  of  late  for 
Americans  of  Italian  extraction  to  swing  into  medicine. 
Fully  eighty  per  cent  of  the  students  in  the  college  within 
the  past  three  years  have  given  this  as  their  ultimate 
profession.  The  reason  for  this  is  difficult  to  determine. 
In  part  tho,  it  is  due  to  the  urging  of  the  parents  desir- 
ous of  having  a  son  in  one  of  the  professions,  a  fact 
conveying  great  prestige.  In  some  cases,  this  forcing 
him  into  a  vocation  for  which  he  may  be  fit  solely  thru 
the  desires  of  the  parent,  rebounds  to  the  lad's  dis- 
advantage. Already  half  a  dozen  fellows  out  of  twenty 
or  thirty  students  at  Columbia  who  had  chosen  a  medical 
calling  have  been  forced  to  give  it  up. 

As  a  group.  Alpha  Phi  Delta  carries  on  all  of  the  social 
activities  of  any  well-ordered  fraternity.  The  members 
represent  not  only  the  best  type  of  the  Italian  element 
that  goes  to  Columbia  but  also  those  most  fortunately 
situated  financially.  In  this  way  they  are  able  to  carry 
on  projects  that  Italians  of  other  groups  find  impossible. 
They  instance  in  this  connection  the  normal  character 
of  development  that  is  possible  with  people  of  Italian 
blood  when  permitted  a  normal  chance  of  development. 
It  is  not  meant  that  these  individuals  as  members  of 
Alpha  Phi  Delta  are  superior  to  other  Americans  of 
Italian  extraction  belonging  to  other  groups  but  that  the 
others  have  been  submitted  to  influences  that  are  largely 
subnormal. 

This  chapter  has  consistently  refused  to  divert  its 
efforts  and  support  anything  that  is  not  of  strictly 
"campus"  origin.  They  have  felt  that  unless  this  were 
so  they  would  be  departing  from  the  strict  observance 
of  unwritten  fraternity  etiquette.  While  therefore  as  a 
group  they  have  circumscribed  the  nature  of  the  rela- 
tions to  that  larger  portion  of  the  American  community 
of  v/hich  the  Italian  forms  a  part  —  nevertheless  as  indi- 
viduals they  have  shown  an  unqualified  spirit  of  spon- 


192  THE  ITALIAN  CONTRIBUTION 

taneous  and  generous  co-operation  with  all  things  per- 
taining to  the  welfare  and  uplift  of  their  people. 

In  the  years  to  come  these  individuals  will  furnish 
the  backbone  of  leadership  and  the  key  of  understanding 
for  the  700,000  Italians  in  New  York  City.  Financially, 
they  will  dictate  the  policies  for  welfare  and  uplift ;  edu- 
cationally, from  their  ranks  must  rise  the  pioneers  in 
the  great  movement  for  the  wholesale  education  of  the 
Italian-speaking  masses ;  and  morally  they  will  serve  as 
the  sources  of  inspiration  and  guide  in  the  already  well- 
defined  general  step  upward. 

SIGMA  PHI  THETA— This  fraternity  was  organized 
at  the  Italian  Industrial  School  in  1915.  The  former 
Superintendent  of  Schools  of  the  Children's  Aid  Society 
and  its  Principal  were  interested  in  this  movement  from 
the  start  and  helped  formulate  its  ritual,  constitution, 
and  by-laws,  etc.  Its  meetings  are  held  in  the  same 
school  and  its  members  before  the  war  totalled  twenty- 
five.  They  were  chosen  from  the  colony  of  Italians  living 
in  the  Mulberry  Bend  section  and  have  up  to  the  present 
kept  together,  showing  a  fine  spirit  of  co-operation  and 
mutual  helpfulness. 

DELTA  OMEGA  PHI— This  is  the  third  fraternal 
organization  located  in  New  York  City  whose  members 
are  all  of  Italian  extraction.  The  ages  of  the  twenty 
odd  members  vary  from  twenty-one  to  thirty.  About 
one-half  are  married. 

This  organization  is  so  secretive  that  very  little  in- 
formation about  its  activities  may  be  divulged  here.  As 
a  type  they  represent  the  finest  expression  of  American- 
ism that  is  to  be  seen  among  Americans  of  Italian  ex- 
traction. Its  organizers  were  Oleri,  Barbieri,  Dr.  Croce, 
Dr.  Verrilli  and  Belserene. 


SOCIAL  WELFARE 

THE  ITALICA  GENS— The  Italica  Gens  is  a  free  fed- 
eration of  the  Italian  Catholic  clergy  in  the  United 
States  supported  by  the  Italian  National  Association  for 
Catholic  Missionaries.    The  federation  maintains  a  gen- 


TO  AMERICAN  DEMOCRACY  193 

eral  information  bureau  which  devotes  special  attention 
to  the  distribution  of  Italian  immigrants.  One  of  its 
important  functions  is  to  induce  Italian  immigrants  to 
locate  in  farm  colonies.  This  bureau  is  at  present  being 
conducted  under  the  able  leadership  of  Father  Grivetti, 
D.D. 

Besides  its  character  as  a  general  clearing  house  for 
information  it  assists  in  finding  work,  tracing  lost  per- 
sons and  packages,  exacts  salaries  and  compensations  for 
accidents,  secures  homes  for  orphans  and  invalids,  helps 
the  sick  and  poor  with  free  transportation  to  Italy,  writes 
and  transmits  correspondence  for  the  illiterate,  and  sup- 
plies copies  of  official  documents,  etc.  All  this  is  done 
without  distinction  being  paid  to  race,  tho  Italians  are 
heavily  in  the  majority  among  those  receiving  such  aid. 
No  fees  are  exacted  for  these  services. 

The  Italica  Federation  also  supplies  all  kinds  of  Italian 
labor,  including  waiters  and  servants,  farmers  and  gar- 
deners, etc.  Offices  are  maintained  in  all  of  the  boroughs 
of  New  York  City  as  well  as  thruout  the  United  States 
and  Canada. 

RELATION  AND  EFFECT  OF  THIS  ORGANIZA- 
TION TO  THE  COMMUNITY— This  is  an  organization 
that  is  interested  in  helping  the  individual  and  resembles 
more  nearly  the  working  of  our  own  Charity  Organiza- 
tion Society  than  any  other  organization  doing  a  similar 
work  among  Italians. 

RECREATIONAL 

THE  ITALIAN  AMERICAN  SCOUTCRAFT  ASSO- 
CIATION— The  Italian  American  Scoutcraft  Association 
was  started  in  April  1917,  and  was  organized  for  the 
purpose  of  bringing  the  "scouting"  program  to  the  Italian 
speaking  boys  not  only  in  New  York  City  but  thruout 
all  the  Italian  colonies  in  the  United  States. 

Apart  from  the  recreational  aspect  that  "scouting" 
presents  in  the  development  of  any  boy,  this  particular 
association  was  created  for  the  purpose  of  assisting  in 
Americanizing  the  thousands  of  Americans  of  Italian  ex- 


194  THE  ITALIAN  CONTRIBUTION 

traction  located  in  this  country.  As  such  it  was  recog- 
nized by  the  National  Council  of  the  Boy  Scouts  of 
America  and  was  accorded  an  unusual  amount  of  sym- 
pathy and  even  financial  support  from  the  Chief  Scout 
Executive,  James  E.  West  of  the  Boy  Scouts  of  America. 

In  no  way  do  the  actual  scouting  features  indulged  in 
by  troops  organized  by  this  association  differ  from  those 
organized  elsewhere.  The  supervision  in  both  instances 
is  the  same.  The  association  seeks  to  enlist  the  sym- 
pathies and  efforts  of  the  Italian  heads  of  the  institutions 
where  Americans  of  Italian  extraction  are  in  any  num- 
ber, to  the  end  that  they  may  undertake  to  take  up 
'"scouting"  as  a  form  of  institutional  activity  for  their 
boys. 

RELATION  AND  EFFECT  OF  "SCOUTCRAFT 
ASSOCIATION"  TO  COMMUNITY— This  association 
represents  an  attempt  to  create  a  national  medium  thru 
which  might  be  reflected  a  distinctly  American  program 
and  American  boys  of  Italian  extraction  be  made  to  di- 
rectly benefit  therefrom.  There  are  two  distinct  advan- 
tages that  arise  in  connection  with  this  enterprise.  One 
is  the  intimate  affiliation  with  an  organization  represent- 
ing a  distinctly  American  coloring  such  as  is  the  Boy 
Scouts  of  America.  The  second  is  the  development  of 
an  "esprit  de  corps"  among  the  scout  troops  in  Italian 
colonies  that  makes  them  feel  that  they  are  part  of  a 
large  American  movement  that  commands  the  respect 
and  support  of  all  Americans. 

The  association  has  met  with  a  wide  support  from  both 
Italian  and  American  elements.  The  boys  themselves 
have  taken  to  it,  as  some  five  hundred  scouts  enrolled 
in  its  activities  can  testify. 

ARTS  AND  INDUSTRY 

There  are  innumerable  companies,  societies  and  other 
organizations  scattered  thruout  New  York  Citv  engaged 
in  imitating,  copying  and  putting  forth  samples  of  Italian 
art  and  industry  for  solely  commercial  purposes.  It 
would  be  a  bit   risky  to  describe  the  character  of  the 


TO  AMERICAN  DEMOCRACY  195 

work  of  such  organizations  because  in  part  it  is  modified 
by  their  necessities  for  meeting  commercial  standards. 

SCUOLA  D'INDUSTRIE  ITALIANE— This  school  is 
the  one  instance  of  its  kind  that  we  have  in  the  city, 
engaged  in  revising  the  lost  art  of  Italian  needlecraft 
and  embroidery  for  purposes  that  are  not  commercial. 
At  frequent  intervals  there  have  been  attempts  to  bring 
back  to  popular  vogue  the  unsurpassable  and  exquisite 
forms  of  Italian  handicraft  in  laces.  In  this  particular 
instance  art  is  being  produced  for  art's  sake.  The  attempt 
is  commendable  not  only  because  it  is  unique  and  is  the 
only  institution  of  its  kind  in  New  York  City  but  because 
the  Scuola  fills  what  has  been  discovered  to  be  a  very 
real  gap  between  the  past  and  the  present.  It  is  a  pity 
that  greater  attention  is  not  paid  to  the  proper  relation 
and  conservation  of  both  the  industrial  and  artistic  handi- 
craft representing  part  of  the  immigrant  heritage  that 
the  Italian-speaking  population  has  to  offer  us.  Each 
race  of  immigrants  has  its  own  peculiar  contribution  to 
render  and  in  the  sphere  of  artistic  handiwork  such  as 
lace,  embroidery,  etc.,  the  Italian  has  for  a  long  period 
of  years  been  without  a  peer. 

In  1905  the  Scuola  DTndustrie  Italiane  was  founded 
from  the  desire  of  reviving  the  beautiful  Italian  art  of 
the  needle  among  the  Italian  women  of  America.  It 
was  hoped  that  this  result  if  attained  even  in  slight 
degree,  would  call  attention  to  the  artistic  skill  of  our 
Italian  immigrants  who  possess  qualities  rich  in  possi- 
bilities for  beauty  and  good  which  we,  too  often  over- 
looking, allow  to  be  perverted  or  lost  in  occupations  un- 
congenial or  unsuited  to  their  temperaments. 

Some  years  ago  there  sprang  up  in  Italy,  quite  spon- 
taneously, a  revival  of  the  old  local  hand  industries  sti- 
mulated and  encouraged  by  patriotic  and  philanthropic 
women  who  eventually  founded  Le  Industrie  Femminili, 
a  co-operative  society  in  which  the  King,  Queen  and  the 
Queen's  mother  were  interested. 

The  work  has  prospered  so  that  now  there  are  a  num- 
ber of  successful  enterprises  renowned  for  their  lace  and 
linen  specialities  such  as  the  Aemilia  Arts  at  Bologna, 


196  THE  ITALIAN  CONTRIBUTION 

the  Marchesa  Sorbello's  School  at  Passignano  and  Mar- 
chesa  De  Vitti  de  Marco's  in  the  south. 

Of  the  women  interested,  no  one  has  been  more  in- 
strumental in  establishing  these  old  hand  arts  than 
Signorina  Carolina  Amari  of  Florence,  whose  taste  and 
knowledge  are  everywhere  in  demand  when  a  new  "labo- 
ratorio"  is  to  be  opened.  Her  own  collection  of  examples 
of  early  embroideries  and  laces  is  a  storehouse  of  his- 
toric and  artistic  information  upon  which  school  after 
school  has  drawn.  This  fountain  of  inspiration  as  well 
as  her  personal  services  Signorina  Amari  placed  at  the 
disposal  of  the  committee  formed  in  New  York  at  the 
time  of  the  opening  of  the  Scuola  in  the  heart  of  the 
Italian  colony  at  28  Macdougal  Street. 

There  is  another  object  which  the  committee  has  had 
in  mind  in  undertaking  this  work  —  the  wish  to  bear  a 
part  in  the  pioneer  work  of  establishing  art  studio  centers 
where  the  wage-earners  of  our  great  cities  who  are  fitted 
for,  or  desire  to  pursue,  hand  arts  may  have  opportuni- 
ties to  apply  themselves  to  their  work  with  something  of 
the  freedom  of  choice  which  the  machine  or  mercantile 
worker  finds  in  the  factory  and  the  shop.  The  real  wage- 
earner,  especially  our  immigrant  woman  wage-earner 
coming  to  us  with  a  heritage  of  hand  deftness  and  artistic 
skill,  has  had  among  us  practically  neither  shop  nor 
mart  for  her  valuable  skilled  labor. 

The  Scuola's  endeavor  has  been  not  so  much  to  estab- 
lish a  school  in  which  to  train  workers  and  then  send 
them  out  to  their  life  work  but  rather  to  maintain  a 
Scuola  in  the  old-time  meaning  and  spirit  of  the  word  — 
a  place  where  master  and  artisan  work  together,  side 
by  side,  in  the  production  of  things  of  beauty  and  worth. 

The  first  year  and  a  half  of  the  Scuola's  existence 
was  naturally  its  experimental  period ;  but  during  the 
last  four  years  the  work  has  been  entirely  self-support- 
ing, a  fact  which  leads  one  to  hope  that  it  may  now  be 
regarded  as  permanently  established  in  our  city  life. 

The  workroom  is  still  at  28  Macdougal  Street,  and 
has  been  successively  under  the  able  superintendance  of 
Signora  D'Annunzio  and  of  her  no  less  skilled  sister,  Sig- 
nora  de  Blasio.     A  small  shop  is  maintained  at  1  East 


TO  AMERICAN  DEMOCRACY  197 

45th  Street,  where  an  everchanging  stock  is  exhibited 
of  the  articles  produced  by  the  Scuola's  workers. 

The  year  1908  was  particularly  signalized  by  the  gra- 
cious interest  shown  in  the  undertaking  by  Her  Majesty, 
Queen  Margherita,  who  has  taken  the  Scuola  under  her 
personal  patronage.  The  emblem  adopted  by  the  Scuola 
• —  the  two-tailed  Mediterranean  mermaid  or  Sirena  (the 
Amari  coat-of-arms) — was  a  choice  especially  favored 
by  the  Queen  Mother  as  typifying  the  women's  work  of 
all  Italy  — "il  bel  paese  ch'  Appennin  parte  e'l  mar  cir- 
conda  e  I'Alpe." 

The  aim  is  to  aid  Italian  women  directly,  to  draw  the 
attention  of  the  public  by  sales  and  exhibitions  of  work 
to  the  more  valuable  and  appealing  side  of  our  Italian 
immigration,  and  to  help  in  the  establishment  of  indus- 
trial art  studios  among  the  wage-earners  of  our  popu- 
lation. 

RELATION  AND  EFFECT  TO  COMMUNITY— The 
Scuola  has  had  the  active  sympathy,  co-operation  and 
financial  support  of  many  prominent  Americans  including 
the  Roosevelts,  Giddings,  C.  A.  Plimpton,  Seth  Low, 
M.  E.  Stone,  the  Colgates,  and  Jane  Addams. 

A  technical  committee  whose  members  are  careful 
students  of  laces  and  embroideries  has  endeavored  not 
only  to  have  faithful  copies  made  of  antique  designs 
but  to  reproduce  their  spirit  in  suitable  adaptations  to 
modern  needs,  some  of  the  more  common  designs  are 
the  Francesca,  Acorn,  Taormina,  Macrome,  Florentine, 
etc.  These  old  Italian  designs  are  woven  into  table 
cloths,  curtains,  napkins,  children's  articles,  bedspreads, 
—  and  are  a  definite  link  between  the  old  world  and  the 
new.  It  is  the  one  intelligent  link  between  the  past  and 
the  present  that  has  not  been  defiled  by  rampant  com- 
mercialism. 

The  workers  in  the  Scuola  are  all  of  Italian  stock  and 
keep  alive  a  true  spirit  of  Italy  at  its  highest.  It  instances 
to  Americans  a  value  of  Italy  that  is  not  generally 
known.  The  idea  of  attempting  to  preserve  and  care- 
fully guard  the  particular  heritage  that  any  nation  has 
to  make  is  new.    This  Scuola  is  an  instance  showing 


198  THE  ITALIAN  CONTRIBUTION 

intelligent  social  action  on  this  point  at  least.  The 
Italians  themselves  are  proud  of  the  Scuola  and  point  it 
out  as  something  that  is  really  Italian. 

THE  ITALIAN  INDUSTRIAL  SCHOOL 

INTRjODUCTION— The  Italian  School  started  sixty- 
four  years  ago  on  the  10th  of  December,  1855,  in  the  one 
room  of  an  old  dilapidated  frame  house  which  was  the 
property  of  the  Five  Points  House  of  Industry  and 
located  at  155  Worth  Street.  The  school  started  with 
an  attendance  of  about  fifty  pupils  which  consisted  of 
both  men  and  women.  It  was  founded  by  Mr.  Ernest 
Fabbri.    The  first  teacher  was  Mr.  Cerqua. 

The  Italian  School  stayed  in  this  building  twelve  years, 
until  1867,  when  it  was  moved  to  44  Franklin  Street.  It 
soon  outgrew  its  new  quarters  and  four  years  later,  1871, 
it  was  moved  into  a  larger  building,  next  door,  46  Frank- 
lin Street. 

The  growth  of  the  school  continued  and  three  years 
later,  1874,  the  school  was  moved  to  155  Leonard  Street 
in  a  building  erected  especially  for  this  purpose.  The 
school  occupied  this  site  for  thirty-five  years. 

Its  growth  and  needs  becoming  greater,  it  finally  was 
moved  to  155  Worth  Street,  the  exact  spot  where  the 
school  started  fifty-four  years  before.  The  old  frame 
building  in  which  the  school  was  started,  had  been  torn 
down  and  replaced  by  a  large  eight-story  modern  struc- 
ture. In  fifty-four  years  the  school  had  traveled  around 
and  back  to  its  starting  place.  The  city's  need  for  the 
Worth  Street  site  caused  an  additional  removal,  a  new 
ten-story  modern  fire-proof  building  was  erected  on 
the  corner  of  Hester  and  Elizabeth  Streets  thru  the 
generosity  of  Arthur  Curtiss  James,  in  whose  honor  to- 
day the  building  is  called  the  James  Memorial  Building. 

The  new  building  is  believed  by  experts  to  be  the  best 
example  of  a  social  settlement  school  and  cost  $300,000. 
It  is  not  only  up-to-date  in  every  appointment  but 
attractive  in  appearance. 

The  school  had  during  1916-17  an  enrollment  of  2500. 


TO  AMERICAN  DEMOCRACY  199 

Some  new  features  recently  added  are  a  Day  Nursery, 
Moving  Pictures,  Open  Air  Class  and  Open  Air  Play- 
ground. 

The  Principal  is  Mrs.  L.  E.  Deferrari-Weygandt*,  who 
has  been  connected  with  the  school  for  forty-two  years 
and  to  whom  the  success  and  the  rapid  progress  of  the 
school  are  largely  due.  She  is  the  dominating  spirit  of 
the  "Five  Points"  and  is  respected  and  loved  by  the  entire 
community. 

Mrs.  Weygandt's  work  is  being  taken  over  by  her 
daughter,  Lillian  J.  Weygandt,  who  in  turn  its  being  as- 
sisted by  Miss  Irma  Liccione.  Both  Miss  Weygandt  and 
Miss  Liccione  are  graduates  of  Barnard  College  and  they 
bring  to  their  work  a  point  of  view  that  is  one  hundred 
per  cent  American. 

RELATION  AND  EFFECT  OF  THE  ITALIAN 
SGHOOL  TO  COMMUNITY— The  place  that  the  Italian 
School  has  in  relation  to  the  large  Italian  colony  down- 
town is  as  unusual  as  it  is  important.  It  is  the  largest 
organized  centre  for  educational  and  social  welfare  work 
among  Italians  in  the  lower  part  of  the  city. 

It  conducts  a  varied  programme.  Besides  the  regular 
day  school,  supervised  by  the  Board  of  Education  of 
New  York  City,  it  has  a  large  evening  school  with  an 
attendance  in  the  winter  totalling  1000  pupils.  Apart 
from  regular  academic  instruction,  classes  are  held  in 
cooking,  sewing,  embroidery,  carpentry,  sign  painting 
and  printing.  A  large  number  of  boys  and  girls  enter 
the  recreational,  athletic,  dramatic  clubs,  which  meet 
there.  It  is  the  best  ordered  and  best  equipped  agency 
for  social  work  among  Italians  not  only  in  Manhattan 
but  thruout  the  entire  city. 

Most  of  all,  this  institution  has  thruout  its  many  years 
of  existence  slowly  gained  the  confidence  and  respect  of 
the  Italian-speaking  population  and  any  activity  that 
emanates  from  within  its  walls,  is  assured  of  their  sym- 
pathy and  co-operation. 

The  school  has  made  a  major  feature  of  citizenship  and 
EngHsh  language  classes.  It  represents  a  high-grade 
Americanizing  agency.  Its  success  has  been  so  marked 
that  it  has  been  an  inspiration  for  the  Verdi  Ladies 
*  Deceased  Feb.  20,  1921. 


200  THE  ITALIAN  CONTRIBUTION 

Auxiliary  to  duplicate  a  similar  institution  in  the  Little 
Italy  colony  in  Harlem. 

SOCIETY  FOR  ITALIAN  WOMEN— The  Society  for 
Italian  Women  was  organized  some  years  ago  at  the 
Greenwich  House  with  Mrs.  C.  F.  Bound,  president,  and 
Mrs.  Simkhovitch,  vice-president.  Its  chief  aim  was  to 
further  the  education  of  Italian-speaking  girls  by  means 
of  scholarship  and  vocational  advice.  Besides  this  it 
seeks  to  act  as  a  general  clearing  house  for  all  social 
agencies  dealing  with  Italian  girls  sixteen  years  old  and 
over. 

This  society  holds  that  there  are  certain  advantages 
to  be  had  in  retaining  with  the  American  girl  of  Italian 
extraction  the  distinctive  traits  she  inherits  from  her 
ancestors.  They  feel  that  in  making  lace,  in  following 
music,  art  and  other  industrial  and  handicraft  activities, 
these  first  generations  of  Americans  are  preserving  and 
perpetuating  their  Italian  heritage  and  are  doing  more 
for  America  and  for  themselves  than  if  they  went  into 
a  factory  or  learned  a  trade. 

RELATION  AND  EFFECT  OF  THIS  SOCIETY  TO 
ITALIAN  COMMUNITY— Education  for  women  in  Italy 
is  not  a  general  thing  and  considering  the  economic 
status  of  the  majority  of  cases  with  which  a  society  of 
this  sort  has  to  deal  its  first  aid  must  be  of  a  financial 
character. 

By  means  of  a  liberal  distribution  of  scholarships  the 
parents  of  the  girls  receiving  them  are  able  to  live  with- 
out the  assistance  of  their  children  who  would  other- 
wise be  in  the  factories.  Vocational  advice  now  can  be 
offered  and  applied  and  such  a  child  is  permitted  to  apply 
herself  uninterruptedly  to  the  task  of  turning  out  lace, 
music,  embroidery  or  of  learning  the  Italian  language 
in  a  way  as  not  to  make  a  real  Italian  blush  for  shame. 
The  principle  underlying  this  organization  is  fundamen- 
tally sound  and  it  fills  a  much  desired  need.  Most  of 
the  di'fficulty  which  the  charitable  and  social  welfare 
organizations  started  for  Italian-speaking  people  en- 
counter in  their  efforts  to  be  effective,  overlook  the  eco- 
nomic basis  upon  which  all  such  efforts  must  rest  if  they 


TO  AMERICAN  DEMOCRACY  201 

are  not  to  fail.  In  this  instance  the  money  that  this 
society  has  been  able  to  collect  and  distribute  by  means 
of  scholarships  to  Italian  girls  has  been  worth  the  effort 
expended. 

PROPAGANDA  ORGANIZATION 

THE  ROMAN  LEGION— There  are  two  organizations 
doing  propaganda  work  among  Americans  of  Italian 
extraction  in  New  York  City.  Both  are  of  recent  origin 
and  owe  their  inception  in  a  large  measure  to  conditions 
arising  directly  from  the  war.  One  of  the  direct  con- 
sequences of  the  war  was  to  create  a  renewed  interest  in 
Italy  and  things  Italian.  The  Roman  Legion  of  America 
was  organized  by  Dr.  Antonio  Stella  and  Judge  John 
J.  Freschi  to  combat  the  insidious  forms  of  Bolshevism 
that  threatened  to  creep  into  the  Italian  mind.  The 
Roman  Legion  is  an  organization  of  Americans  of  Italian 
descent  organized  for  patriotic  purposes  and  particularly 
for  the  combating  of  enemy  propaganda  among  the  Ita- 
lian-speaking population  of  America. 

The  particular  purpose  of  the  Legion  is  to  counteract 
false  reports  about  the  army  and  navy  and  temper  of 
the  people  both  in  Italy  and  in  the  United  States  which 
enemy  agents  have  been  actively  circulating  among 
Italian-speaking  people.  During  the  war  counter  propa- 
ganda thru  the  Italian  press  and  thru  a  special  corps  of 
speakers  had  been  organized  and  this  work  was  followed 
up  by  intensive  patriotic  work  conducted  in  various  parts 
of  the  country  thru  local  committees. 

The  following  resolution  adopted  at  its  first  meeting 
and  sent  to  President  Wilson  is  an  indication  of  the 
general  tone  and  spirit  of  this  organization : 

"The  New  York  City  Division  of  the  Roman  Legion  of 
America,  a  national  organization  devoted  to  meeting  pro- 
German  propaganda,  in  convention  assembled: 

"Resolves  to  place  at  the  disposal  of  the  National  Gov- 
ernment and  of  the  State  authorities  our  facilities  and 
our  services  to  the  end  that  Hun  lies  disseminated  among 
the  Italian-speaking  people  of  America  shall  be  met 
with  truth. 


202  THE  AMERICAN  DEMOCRACY 

"We  appeal  to  the  people  of  Italian  origin  to  support 
by  every  means  at  their  command,  thru  the  press  and 
otherwise,  the  President  of  the  United  States,  the  Gov- 
ernor of  the  State  of  New  York  and  the  administration 
in  each  city  of  the  state  in  this  war. 

In  the  words  of  the  President  of  the  Legion : 

*'This  organization  will  seek  to  form  together  a  Na- 
tional organization  of  defence  against  the  enemy  propa- 
ganda but  we  want  to  throw  all  our  resources  instantly 
into  the  struggle,  to  preserve  the  spirit  of  endurance  of 
our  people  at  home  and  the  morale  of  our  troops  at  the 
front.  We  want  to  organize  for  home  service.  But  be- 
sides its  immediate  purpose,  this  Legion  may  have  a 
further  significance  in  the  future,  and  may  plant  the  seed 
of  a  powerful  alliance  of  all  Italian  resources  in  this 
country  for  concerted  work  after  the  war,  when  the 
reconstruction  period  will  begin. 

"The  Legion  will  have  a  dual  function ;  on  the  one 
hand,  it  will  try  to  unearth  and  discover  and  nullify  pro- 
Germanism  wherever  it  is  lurking;  on  the  other  hand 
it  will  assert  and  reaffirm  our  confidence  and  pride  in 
the  great  work  that  the  United  States  and  Italy  are 
doing  for  the  benefit  of  mankind  and  will  try  to  focus  the 
attention  of  the  public  on  these  achievements.  Such  an 
alliance  may  bridge  the  gulf  which  now  separates  public 
opinion  in  the  two  countries,  clearing  up  and  eliminating 
misunderstandings,  and  interpreting  the  efficient  work 
of  one  country  in  behalf  of  the  other."* 

ITALY  AMERICA  SOCIETY— The  other  organiza- 
tion recently  formed  to  create  a  more  sympathetic  union 
between  the  peoples  of  Italy  and  of  America  is  the 
Italy-America  Society.  The  President  of  this  society  is 
Mr.  Charles  E.  Hughes;  its  vice-president  Mr.  Thomas 
W.  Lamont.  During  the  war  this  society  sought  by 
means  of  the  fullest  use  of  modern  publicity  methods  to 
put  forth  the  correct  position  of  Italy  in  the  present  war. 
This  was  done  by  means  of  speeches,  conferences,  social 
gatherings,  patriotic  functions,  etc.  It  was  upon  the 
instigation  of  this  society  that  President  Wilson  desig- 

*  Dr.  Antonio  Stella. 


TO  AMERICAN  DEMOCRACY  203 

nated  the  last  May  24th  as  Italy  Day,  and  called  upon  all 
loyal  Americans  of  all  extractions  to  do  honor  to  Italy 
for  the  part  she  played  in  the  war. 

The  society  conducted  a  series  of  parades  and  other 
out-door  gatherings  at  which  speakers  in  both  English 
and  Italian  explained  how  important  Italy  was  to  the 
Entente's  cause.  In  the  evening  of  that  same  day  an 
important  reception  was  held  at  Carnegie  Hall  at  which 
speeches  by  the  Italian  Ambassador,  Secretary  of  War 
Baker,  Charles  E.  Hughes  and  other  notables  were  deliv- 
ered. The  crowd  was  so  immense  that  thousands  were 
refused  admittance.  This  event  was  considered  impor- 
tant enough  for  II  Carroccio  to  dedicate  a  memorial 
volume  to  this  occasion. 

RELATION  AND  EFFECT  OF  THESE  ORGANIZA- 
TIONS TO  COMMUNITY— It  is  too  early  to  judge  yet 
the  full  value  of  the  work  of  either  of  these  two  organ- 
izations described  because  of  their  recency.*  Of  late  the 
Italy  America  Society  has  widened  its  scope  and  gives 
promise  of  being  the  most  influential  organization  en- 
gaged in  the  task  of  intellectual  interpretation  of  Italy 
to  Americans.  A  great  deal  of  the  success  of  this  or- 
ganization is  due  to  its  able  manager,  Irwin  Smith. 
Great  things  are  expected  of  this  organization  in  the 
future. 

THE  ITALIAN  BUREAU  OF  PUBLIC  INFORMA- 
TION— We  put  in  here  no  description  save  the  mere 
mentioning  by  name  of  this  bureau.  It  is  purely  an 
Italian  activity  subsidized  by  the  Italian  Government 
and  aims  to  present  the  merits  and  force  of  Italy's  posi- 
tion in  the  war.  It  has  offices  at  42nd  Street  and  Fifth 
Avenue.  Its  methods  are  those  of  publicity  of  facts  thru 
all  the  channels  of  legitimate  propaganda.  It  issues  a 
fortnightly  bulletin  called  "Italy  To-day."  The  Bureau 
during  the  war  was  under  the  direction  of  the  well- 
equipped   Dr.   Felice   Ferrero  whose   associate   is   Prof. 

*  Recently  two  other  organizations  have  been  formed  which 
aim  to  help  Italy.  These  are  The  Italian  Welfare  League  and 
The  Tribute  to  Italy. 


204  THE  ITALIAN  CONTRIBUTION 

Costa  of  City  College.  Because  of  its  purely  Italian 
complexion  no  discussion  is  attempted  here  of  its  activi- 
ties other  than  to  state  that  for  the  American  of  Italian 
extraction  it  offers  little  that  he  can  be  said  to  appreciate. 
Its  greatest  usefulness  perhaps  is  with  Italians  located 
in  centers  away  from  New  York. 


TO  AMERICAN  DEMOCRACY  205 


PART  V 

WHAT  THE  AMERICAN  OF  ITALIAN  EXTRACTION 
CONTRIBUTES    TO    AMERICAN    DEMOCRACY 

CHAPTER  XX 

INTRODUCTION 

REASONS  FOR  PHRASE  "AMERICANS  OF  ITAL- 
IAN EXTRACTION"  —  What  does  the  American  of 
Italian  extraction  contribute  to  our  American  demo- 
cracy? Thruout  this  study  the  hyphen  Italian-American 
has  been  carefully  avoided  in  order  not  to  lead  anyone  to 
the  conclusion  that  we  are  concerned  with  a  type  that  is 
hyphenated.  The  term  Italian-American  is  a  hyphen  of 
objectionable  character.  One  of  the  results  of  the  war 
has  been  to  develop  a  strong  sentiment  antagonistic  to 
hyphenated  citizenship.  The  "state"  is  justified  in  ask- 
ing that  its  citizens  be  one  hundred  per  cent  citizens.  In 
our  country  whether  one  is  anything  else  is  a  matter  of 
great  importance  because  of  the  remarkable  hetero- 
geneity of  racial  stocks.  Different  ethnic  elements  in  a 
population,  unquestionably  tend  to  create  communities 
within  communities.  Prof.  Jastrow's  views  of  hyphen- 
ated citizenship  will  repay  one  for  the  reading.*  He 
raises  the  question  whether  a  Jew  sould  divide  his  alle- 
giance between  Palestine  and  the  country  where  he  made 
his  home.  It  cannot  be  said  that  even  to-day  this  con- 
cept of  "Americanism"  is  as  clear  cut  as  we  would  like 
to  have  it.**    In  speaking  of  the  individuals  concerned  in 

*  See  remarks  by  Dr.  Jastrow,  Jr.,  on  "The  Danger  of  a 
Hyphenated  Citizenship."    Menorah  Journal,  June  1918. 

**The  way  different  writers  have  looked  on  this  point  is 
shown  by  the  following  quotations,  viz:  "Of  course  a  man  who 
is  born  in  a  foreign  country  is  in  every  sense  of  the  word  a 
foreigner  though  he  may  have  been  Americanized  by  his  resi- 
dence in  the  United  States."     Federation,  July  1912,  p.  41.) 

"In  one  sense  all  the  inhabitants  of  the  United  States  are 
immigrants.    The  only  exception  would  be  the  descendants  of 


206  THE  ITALIAN  CONTRIBUTION 

our  study  the  fact  of  their  Americanism  is  a  matter  that 
can  scarcely  be  said  to  be  universally  accepted.  The 
contention  offered  thruout  is  that  the  second  generation 
of  Italians  are  Americans  first  and  last.  One  grants  that 
in  many  cases  the  type  is  not  normal  or  what  we  would 
like  to  see  obtain  when  we  think  or  speak  of  the  ultimate 
American  type.  But  essentially  they  are  Americans  of  a 
type  created,  shaped,  and  formed  in  a  large  part  by 
American  life  and  American  conditions. 

DEFINITION  OF  DEMOCRACY— When  we  come  to 
define  Democracy  we  come  to  a  still  more  difficult  prob- 
lem. Democracy  has  been  defined  by  many  and  the  defi- 
nitions have  been  as  varied  as  has  been  the  number  of 
people  so  defining.  To  many  DEMOCRACY  is  a  wore 
used  synonymously  with  AMERICANISM.  In  a  sym- 
posium contributed  to  by  many  leaders  of  American 
thought  it  was  seen  that  each  individual  who  attempted 
a  definition  unconsciously  interpreted  "democracy"  ac- 
cording to  the  peculiar  bent  of  his  own  experience.*  How 
undetermined  and  unanalyzed  "democracy"  as  a  con- 
cept still  is,  Prof.  Hamilton  shows  with  great  clearness.** 
Prof.  Giddings  questioning  thousands  of  immigrants  re- 
garding what  they  thought  Americanism  represented  to 
them  said  that  two  ideas  stood  out  most  prominently 

*  "What  is  Americauism"  American  Journal  of  Sociology, 
Vol.  20,  pp.  433-486;  613-628. 

**"The  Price  System  and  Social  Policy."  W.  H.  HamiUon, 
Journal  of  Political  Economy,  January,  1918. 

the  aborigines."  (Extrait  du  Bulletin  de  I'lnstitut  International 
de  Statistique,  p.  38.    Dr.  Richmond  Mayo-Smith.) 

"It  is  unreasonable  to  expect  that  an  adult  who  has  spent  the 
early  years  of  his  development  in  a  foreign  country  can  in  his 
own  life  time  be  assimilated  if  by  assimilation  we  mean  that 
complete  absorption  into  the  body  politic  so  as  to  make  it  im- 
possible to  recognize  him  as  of  foreign  birth.  If  assimilation 
in  that  sense  is  to  be  the  standard  for  the  admission  of  immi- 
grants, then  it  is  very  doubtful  whether  any  immigrants  could 
logically  be  admitted.  It  is  doubtful  however  whether  anyone 
seriously  expects  that  such  assimilation  is  possible  excepting 
in  rare  instances."  (Albert  Shiels,  "The  School  and  the  Immi- 
grant" p.  8,  Division  of  Reference  and  Research,  Bulletin  11, 
Department  of  Education,  New  York  City.) 


TO  AMERICAN  DEMOCRACY  207 

(1)  opportunity  for  a  better  chance  educationally,  eco- 
nomically, etc.,  and  (2)  prestige  (America  was  a  country 
big  and  powerful),  that  the  American  flag  stood  for  big- 
ness rather  than  for  the  feeling  of  reverence  that  goes 
with  generations  of  living. 

It  would  be  both  interesting  and  instructive  to  list 
some  of  the  current  notions  of  "democracy."  The  first 
is  an  Italian's  "the  progress  of  all  for  all  under  the 
leadership  of  the  best  and  the  wisest" — Mazzini  (quoted 
by  N.  Murray  Butler)  in  "True  and  False  Democracy"; 
"Democracy's  chief  essential  feature  should  be  the  su- 
premacy of  the  people's  brain"  (Albert  Stickney — "Or- 
ganized Democracy,"  p.  238)  ;  "Externally  Democracy 
is  a  piece  of  machinery  —  internally  it  is  the  effective 
embodiment  of  the  moral  idea  which  consists  in  the  de- 
velopment of  all  the  social  capacities  of  every  individual 
of  society"  (Dewey  and  Tufts ;  Ethics,  p.  474)  ;  "as  a 
form  of  government  democracy  consists  in  the  actual 
administration  of  political  affairs  through  universal  suf- 
frage —  as  a  form  of  the  state  it  is  popular  sovereignty, 
i.  e.,  popular  distribution  of  formal  political  povv^er" 
(Franklin  H.  Giddings ;  Democracy  and  Empire,  p.  203)  ; 
"democracy  must  risk  its  success  on  the  integrity  of 
human  nature"  (Progressive  Democracy — Herbert  Croly, 
p.  27)  ;  "democrary  is  an  expression  of  the  worth  and 
intelligence  of  the  individual  —  it  is  a  spirit,  a  view- 
point, an  expression  of  faith  in  the  ability  of  society  as  a 
whole  to  govern  itself  (Geo.  H.  Betts,  Social  Principles 
of  Education,  p.  83)  ;  "the  end  goal  of  democracy  is  a 
social  goal.  It  is  the  improvement,  physical,  intellec- 
tual and  moral,  of  the  millions  who  make  up  the  democ- 
racy. It  is  such  an  advancement  and  increase  of  the 
progressive  masses  that  the  gains  made  in  the  political 
and  industrial  fields  may  be  increased,  retained  and 
wisely  utilized"  (The  New  Democrary — Walter  E.  Weyl, 
p.  319)  ;  "democracy  is  a  way  of  life,  a  use  of  freedom 
and  embrace  of  opportunity"  (Walter  Lippman,  "Drift 
and  Mastery,"  p.  16). 

If  we  may  be  permitted  a  socio-psychological  defini- 
tion of  what  we  consider  democracy  to  mean  it  would 
be  something  like  this  —  "that  form  of  social  organiza- 


208  THE  ITALIAN  CONTRIBUTIOlSi 

tion  within  which  there  is  permitted  to  a  maximum 
number  of  individuals  a  maximum  opportunity  for  a 
maximum  functioning  of  a  maximum  number  of  socially 
acceptable  original  capacities  maximally  developed."*  In 
less  technical  language  this  can  be  understood  to  mean  a 
condition  of  society  where  each  and  every  man  has 
a  fair  chance  to  develop  himself  according  to  his  own 
predispositions  and  knows  that  he  has  that  chance. 

Having  marked  out  clearly  the  type  of  individual 
whose  contribution  we  are  discussing  and  having  de- 
fined what  we  understand  to  be  the  meaning  of  democ- 
racy in  this  connection  it  remains  for  us  to  show  how 
these  two  are  tied  up  and  effect  what  we  understand 
t®  be  the  chief  problem  in  our  American  society  from  a 
socio-ethnic  standpoint,  namely  the  synthetization  of 
our  composite  population  groups  from  the  standpoint  of 
one  of  these  groups,  i.e.,  the  Italian. 

*This  definition  of  ours  follow  the  usage  of  the  language  of 
Thorndike  whose  study  of  human  instincts  for  all  cooperative 
action  seems  the  furthest  advanced  to-day.  As  such,  though,  it 
is  not  closed  to  certain  objections.  See — Human  Nature  in 
Politics,  W.  C.  Mitchell,  Quarterly  Journal  of  Economics,  Vol.  29. 


TO  AMERICAN  DEMOCRACY  209 

CHAPTER  XXI 
OLD    IDEAS    REGARDING    ITALIANS 

INCOMPLETE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  ITALIAN— The 
American  of  Italian  extraction  has  sprung  from  a  people 
that  are  unfortunately  too  little  known.  The  French 
have  a  proverb  which  when  translated  means  "To  un- 
derstand is  to  excuse."  If  not  only  the  Italian  but  the 
dozens  of  other  racial  groups  were  better  understood 
perhaps  less  of  what  is  really  condemnable  would  be 
found. 

Fortunately  the  older  idea  that  a  large  proportion  of 
the  Italians  who  come  to  our  shores  are  registered 
members  of  a  Black  Hand  or  a  Camorra  society,  is 
being  rapidly  if  not  altogether  dispelled  to-day.  Also 
universally  rejected,  to-day,  is  the  concept  that  if  an 
Italian  does  not  secure  his  living  in  this  surreptitious 
manner  he  is  a  beggar  or  an  organ-grinder  or  some 
other  semi-parasitic  creature.  There  was  a  time  when 
the  more  important  task  in  interpreting  foreigners  (and 
this  holds  true  of  all  nationalities)  was  to  explain  away 
traditional  fallacies  and  leave  to  some  future  generation 
the  task  of  intelligent  constructive  interpretation.  In 
this  day  however,  the  task  is  to  point  out  the  nature  and 
background  of  the  Americans  of  different  racial  stocks 
that  are  with  us,  and  show  what  are  the  positive  aspects 
of  real  worth  and  value  that  their  natures  offer. 

In  the  case  of  the  racial  type  under  our  observation 
the  great  physical  enterprises  of  our  country,  industrial 
plants  and  public  utilities  are  silent  but  eloquent  monu- 
ments of  their  real  worth.  No  better  statement  of  the 
fundamental  steadiness  and  soberness  of  character  of 
these  people  is  to  be  had  than  the  statement  of  the  late 
Mayor  Gaynor,  who  in  speaking  of  the  Italians  said: 
"Take  the  Italian  whom  all  of  us  are  so  ready  to  condemn 
as  undesirable  citizens  —  with  all  of  them  departed  to- 
morrow this  nation  would  come  to  an  absolute  stand- 
still." So  much  for  the  parents  of  the  type  we  are  study- 
ing and  vyhom  we  have  ruled  out  of  this  study  as  being 


210  THE  ITALIAN  CONTRIBUTION 

too  far  ingrained  with  the  culture  of  the  "homeland"  to 
be  able  to  contribute  creatively  to  American  democracy. 

TYPE  OF  ITALIAN  THAT  COMES  HERE— Inci- 
dental to  this  problem,  but  important  in  helping  to  create 
a  snap  judgment,  is  the  fact  that  the  type  of  Italians 
that  come  here  are  not  Italy's  favored  sons.  By  far 
the  majority  of  these  people  are  people  whose  ances- 
tors came  from  the  southern  part  of  Italy  where  economic 
and  intellectual  advantages  afforded  are  exceedingly  sub- 
normal. It  is  not  surprising,  therefore,  to  find  that  these 
people  are  lowest  in  the  scale  of  culture  among  immi- 
grants that  come  to  our  shores.  Of  this  difference  be- 
tween the  Northern  and  Southern  Italians,  Stella  has 
said:  "The  mistake  is  in  assuming  that  such  is  due  to 
innate  deficiencies.  More  than  otherwise  such  inferior- 
ity of  mental  and  social  standing  is  a  consequence  of  the 
lack  of  opportunity."*  For  in  the  large,  if  immigration 
to  America  has  done  naught  else,  it  has  proved  that  but 
few  race  characteristics,  if  any,  are  fixed.  Should  some 
skeptic  wish  to  be  convinced  on  this  point,  let  him  visit 
such  towns  as  South  Bend,  Indiana,  Scranton,  Pennsyl- 
vania, or  Youngstown,  Ohio,  and  look  at  the  Slavs  or 
Italians  who  came  here  twenty  years  ago.  Let  him  go 
among  those  who  have  had  the  full  advantage  of  our  en- 
vironment, our  standard  of  living,  of  education  and  en- 
lightening religion.  He  will  find  what  we  call  real 
characteristics  almost  obliterated  from  the  faces  of  even 
the  first  generation.  The  sluggish  Pole  has  become 
vivacious,  the  fiery  Italian  has  had  his  blood  cooled  to 
a  temperature  approved  by  even  the  most  fastidious  of 
those  who  believe  that  fervor  and  enthusiasm  are  not 
signs  of  good  breeding.** 

RECENCY  OF  ITALIAN  IMMIGRATION— As  im- 
portant as  any  other  single  fact  is  the  comparative  re- 
cency of  Italian  immigration.  As  our  statistics  showed 
no  Italian  immigration  of  any  moment  appeared  before 
1882  when  but  32,160  entered.  As  late  as  1850  there  were 
fewer  than  4000  immigrants  from  Italy  in  the  whole 
United  States.    From  that  time  on  until  1914  —  the  year 

*  Stella,  Antonio  Dr.,  Effetti  deirUrbanismo,  p,  44. 
**  Steiner,  "The  Immigrant  Tide,"  p.  55. 


TO  AMERICAN  PEMOCRACY  211 

of  the  Great  War  the  annual  immigration  from  Italy 
has  steadily  increased  until  it  had  reached  the  stupendous 
figures  of  283,738  or  5000  more,  in  1914,  than  entered 
from  Austria-Hungary  which  was  its  nearest  competitor. 
Two-fifths  of  the  entire  afflux  from  Italy  directed  itself 
to  this  country,  the  remaining  going  to  South  America.* 
These  hundreds  of  thousands  are  excluded  from  this 
study.  It  is  with  their  children  as  it  is  with  the  grow- 
ing generations  of  the  descendants  of  the  thirty-three 
other  immigrant  races  that  the  hope  of  America  chiefly 

FRICTION  DUE  TO  MAL-ADJUSTMENT— Much 
of  the  friction  and  misunderstanding  encountered  in 
dealing  with  these  people  is  due  to  the  social  mal- 
adjustment. Ignorance  of  the  language,  lack  of  com- 
prehension of  the  laws  and  their  purpose  make  for  fre- 
quent disorder.  It  is  because  of  this  lack  of  proper 
setting  or  ''sociological  milieu"  that  nine-tenths  of  the 
troubles  of  this  class  arise.  Dr.  Jones  says  on  this 
point  "the  Italians  have  come  here  from  a  land  of  sun- 
shine to  a  land  of  climatic  extremes  and  to  a  city  gov- 
ernment of  alternating  laxity  and  legal  restraint.  .  .  . 
their  curiosity  often  expends  itself  in  acts  of  disorder 
and  law-breaking  prompted  by  the  desire  to  see  how 
far  they  can  go  in  this  land  of  the  free." 

Whether  the  American  of  Italian  extraction  is  able 
to  make  an  effective  contribution  to  American  democ- 
racy is  dependent  in  a  large  measure  upon  heredity. 
Whether  he  actually  makes  it  or  not,  assuming  the  here- 
ditary basis  to  exist,  is  dependent  for  the  most  part  upon 
the  socio-politico-economic  organization  and  environ- 
ment of  the  land  in  which  he  lives.  On  the  former  point 
Professor  Steiner,  who  has  studied  these  people  first- 
hand, has  stated  that  "Race  characteristics  which  were 
regarded  as  biological,  are  found  to  be  sociological,  and 
on  the  outside,  not  the  inside";  on  the  latter  Boodin  has 
shown  that  "Differences  between  standards  of  cultures 
and  customs   which  constitute   the  web  of  life   of  one 

*  Tittoni,    Senator    Tommaso,    Italy's    Foreign    and    Colonial 
Policy,  p.  162. 
♦*  Census  poplation  1910. 


212  THE  ITALIAN  CONTRIBUTION 

people  as  distinct  from  another,  are  sociological  not 
psychological."* 

If  the  belief  were  to  continue  and  spread  that  the 
peoples  constituting  the  newer  generation  are  objec- 
tionable because  they  are  unassimilable,  mentally  in- 
ferior and  morally  degenerate,  and  that  they  persist  in 
maintaining  a  standard  of  living  that  in  time  will  under- 
mine the  welfare  of  this  nation  (when  as  we  have  seen 
above  these  differences  are  differences  in  opportunity 
for  the  most  part)  the  outcome  would  be  manifestly  un- 
fair to  those  constituting  the  "newer  generation."  Amer- 
ica's foremost  place  has  been  assured  to  her  in  the  past 
because  she  has  never  given  herself  up  to  this  narrow 
philosophy. 

In  this  connection,  Grace  Abbott  of  the  Federal  Chil- 
dren's Bureau,  has  delivered  herself  with  no  uncertain 
force :  "To  many  Americans  the  so-called  foreign  colonies 
in  New  York,  Chicago,  Pittsburgh,  Cleveland,  seem  to  be 
reproductions  of  Italy,  Greece,  Poland  or  Russia.  But 
to  the  immigrant  the  street  on  which  he  lives  is  so  un- 
like the  one  on  which  he  lived  at  home,  that  he  believes 
them  to  be  thoroughly  American.  These  foreign  neigh- 
borhoods of  ours  are  neither  Italian,  Greek,  Polish  or 
Russian,  nor  are  they  American.  A  sympathetic  knowl- 
edge of  the  hopes  and  life  of  the  peoples  of  these  un- 
American  American  neighborhoods  is  rare  among  us.  .  .  . 
there  are  Americans  who  resent  an  immigrant  as  an  out- 
sider. Some  feel  that  to  take  account  deliberately  in  our 
social  planning  of  differences  in  customs  and  traditions 
would  be  dangerous  recognition  of  our  un-Americanism. 
Those  Americans  consider  our  institutions  more  impor- 
tant than   the  ends   these   institutions   were   created  to 


serve 


'»** 


♦"Social  Systems,"  J.  E.  Boodin,  American  Journal  of  Socio- 
logy, May  1918. 

**  Publications  of  the  American  Sociological  Society,  Vol.  12 
— Social  Control,  "The  Immigrant  in  Community  Planning," 
pp.  166  passim. 


TO  AMERICAN  DEMOCRACY  213 

CHAPTER  XXII 
THE  PRESENT  VIEWPOINT 

It  is  not  difficult  to  show  the  inaccuracy  of  the  charges 
outlined  in  the  last  section,  that  were  made  both  against 
the  Italian  and  the  younger  generation.  The  best  evi- 
dence is  the  activities  organized,  administered  and  en- 
tered into  by  both  these  people.  Industries  of  every 
description  and  all  of  the  professions  alike  afford  con- 
clusive testimony  in  certifying  to  the  general  co-opera- 
tive qualities  of  these  peoples. 

With  respect  to  agriculture,  Prof.  Geddes,  Jr.,  states 
"that  their  influence  can  be  felt  in  many  garden  sections 
cultivated  in  this  country  where  they  have  made  the 
rocky  hills  bloom  as  the  rose."  On  this  same  point  we 
quote  in  full  the  reply  to  our  symposium  of  Prof.  Lindley 
M.  Keasbey  formerly  of  the  University  of  Pennsylvania 
and  Bryn  Mawr  College,  now  editor  of  The  Interna- 
tional : 

"European  civilization  is  made  up  of  two  parts ;  the 
Beer  and  Butter  civilization  of  the  North,  and  the  Wine 
and  Oil  civilization  of  the  South.  The  beer  and  butter 
people  are  made  up  of  Nordics  and  Alpines ;  and  the 
wine  and  oil  people  are  predominately  of  Mediterranean 
stock. 

"Our  environmental  conditions  are  such  as  to  give 
rise  to  Beer  and  Butter  and  a  Wine  and  Oil  civiliza- 
tion in  the  United  States.  Except,  however,  for  the 
Spanish  and  French,  our  Wine  and  Oil  region  has  been 
occupied  and  developed  for  the  most  part  by  Anglo- 
Saxons  and  Teutons  who  are  Beer  and  Butter  people. 
As  Nordics  and  Alpines  they  have  done  well  in  their 
strenuous  ways.  But  when  all  is  said  they  have  not 
really  adapted  themselves  to  our  wine  and  oil  condi- 
tions, nor  have  they  made  of  this  Southern  section  what 
it  is  destined  to  be. 

"This  I  take  is  the  chief  contribution  of  Americans  of 
Italian  descent.  They  have  gone  into  and  are  developing 
our  Southern  Sea  Board  States,  and  wherever  they  go 


214  THE  ITALIAN  CONTRIBUTION 

they  are  continuing  the  good  work  begun  by  their  Wine 
and  Oil  predecessors,  the  Spanish  and  the  French.  The 
Italians  really  understand  the  true  characteristics  of 
Mediterranean  civilization  and  are  the  very  best  of  all 
the  Wine  and  Oil  people  to  realize  the  possibilities  in 
the  United  States." 

Coming  to  their  industrial  position,  their  energy  and 
initiative  are  apparent.  In  the  wine  industry  the  biggest 
merchants  in  California  are  of  Italian  stock.  Nor  are 
they  confined  to  this.  In  1909  the  working  population 
of  Italian  blood  in  the  United  States  approximated 
1,200,000.  Their  condition*  in  industry  is  shown  approx- 
imately as  follows : 

Engaged  in  agriculture  80,000 

Engaged  in  mines  of  all  sorts 100,000 

Working  in  industrial  establishments  of  all  sorts    500,000 
Working  in   building  industries   including   rail- 
roads      520,000 

Living  in  centers  of  less  than   100,000  popula- 
tion        200,000 

Living  in  centers  of  more  than  100,000  popula- 
tion   1,000,000 

Of  the  total  working  population  of  Italian  lineage  in. 
the  United  States  approximately  800,000  or  sixty-seven 
per  cent  were  engaged  in  agriculture  abroad,  whereas  in 
this  country  only  6.6  per  cent  are  so  engaged.  These 
figures  are  eloquent  testimony  to  the  "industrial"  place 
that  the  Italian  holds  in  this  nation's  upbuilding.  Scudder 
found  that  fully  eighty-two  per  cent  of  this  strain  were 
industrially  employed.** 

One  who  has  lived  among  them  and  travelled  thruout 
all  their  country  says,  "the  Italian  is  a  hard  worker  and  a 
valuable  element  which  is  to  our  national  character 
*molto  simpatico.'  He  is  honest,  thrifty,  industrious, 
and  friendly.  He  has  the  high  spirited  temperament 
and  gaiety  that  Northern  nations  so  conspicuously  lack. 

*  Dr.  Alberto  Pecorini,  "The  Italian  as  an  Agricultural  La- 
borer." Annals  of  the  American  Academy  of  Political  and 
Social  Science,  Vol.  38,  1909. 

**  Scudder  —  "Suggestions  on  Methods  of  Work  and  the 
Course  of  Study  for  Italian  Children." 


TO  AMERICAN  DEMOCRACY  215 

We  like  him  and  we  need  him  for  our  business.     He 
has  made  our  waste  places  "bloom  as  the  rose/'f 

Another  aspect  of  their  enterprises  discloses  this  better 
than  anything  else.  There  are  something  like  three 
thousand  individual  fruit  selling  enterprises  conducted 
by  Italian-speaking  peoples  in  New  York  City.  Fruit 
raising  is  the  nature  and  form  of  their  almost  instinctive 
calling  here. 

The  greatly  increasing  number  of  professionally  em- 
ployed Americans  of  Italian  blood  within  the  past  two 
decades  is  one  of  the  most  gratifying  phenomena  to 
those  desiring  a  speedy  Americanization.  Twenty  years 
ago  such  individuals  were  so  few  that  they  could  almost 
be  counted  on  the  fingers  of  one  hand.  In  fact  so  few 
were  they  that  many  individuals  are  living  to-day  who 
can  recall  every  professionally  employed  American  of 
this  type.  To  do  this  to-day,  however,  is  impossible. 
They  dot  the  ItaHan  colonies  and  are  rapidly  branching 
out  in  sections  where  the  inhabitants  are  not  of  an 
Italian  complexion  at  all. 

Every  "circolo"  was  questioned  by  the  writer  regard- 
ing the  future  vocation  of  the  members  and  fully  eighty 
per  cent  had  definitely  chosen  a  professional  calling. 
Leadership  and  initiative,  we  are  beginning  to  see,  was 
but  held  in  abeyance  and  awaited  the  first  favorable  op- 
portunity for  expression.  Ainerica  has  given  this  op- 
portunity freely. 

PRACTICAL  EXPERIENCES  OF  SOCIAL  WORK- 
ERS REGARDING  THEIR  QUALITIES  OF  CO- 
OPERATION—To  the  superficial  observer  the  different 
customs  and  habits  of  Italians  living  in  different  streets 
may  seem  to  show  a  lack  of  organization  and  an  apparent 
disunity.  Yet  when  one  looks  into  the  question  more 
deeply  than  is  discernable  on  the  surface  of  things,  one 
finds  an  extremely  numerous  variety  of  organizations, 
societies,  clubs  and  associations,  all  bringing  out  the 
very  social  character  of  this  type  and  the  very  ready 
way  in  which  they  enter  into  organization  and  adapt 
themselves  to  common  tasks  and  community  purposes. 

None  are  better  fitted  to  testify  on  the  subject  than 

t  Train,  Arthur. 


216  THE  ITALIAN  CONTRIBUTION 

"social  workers."  These  individuals  every  day  of  their 
lives  go  into  the  homes,  observing  the  American  of 
Italian  extraction  minutely,  and  thereby  get  a  true 
picture  of  the  actual  interests  that  grip  him  and  for 
which  he  gives  both  his  time  and  his  money.  Most 
expressive,  and  at  the  same  time  most  picturesque,  is  the 
testimony  of  Dr.  Peter  Roberts  who,  when  he  asked 
if  the  Italians  formed  organizations  and  cooperated,  was 
met  with  the  response :  "O  Lord,  their  organizations  are 
so  many  you  can't  count  them."  The  Italian's  love  for 
companionship  and  "good  times"  is  well-known.  Dr. 
Jones'  investigations  led  him  to  say  on  this  point :  "Their 
loud  voices  coupled  with  their  highly  emotional  temper- 
ament gives  ample  ground  for  much  simultaneity  of 
action.  Their  emotions  are  too  keen  and  too  much  awake 
to  be  limited  to  a  family.  Inevitably  they  act  together." 
The  Italian  fraternal  and  benefit  societies  numbering 
hundreds  show  that  any  charge  of  disorganization  or 
lack  of  cooperation  must  be  untrue. 

Italians  are  overflowing  with  sympathy.  They  are 
quick  to  co-operate  in  helpful  movements.  They  have 
a  strong  social  instinct  and  unconsciously  devote  them- 
selves to  the  support  of  the  socially  good,  and  to  the 
condemnation  of  the  bad.  In  order  to  further  the  com- 
mon good  they  are  willing  to  lay  aside  their  own  in- 
terests. 

It  is  not  surprising  to  find  that  due  to  the  social  and 
friendly  nature  of  the  Italian-speaking  American,  his 
activities  take  a  concerted  volition  of  yet  wider  extent 
called  forth  by  a  sensational  event  or  misfortune.  It 
is  the  testimony  of  ambulance  surgeons  that  they  can 
scarcely  reach  their  patients  in  an  Italian  district  be- 
cause the  neighbors  have  gathered  about  to  offer  aid 
and  sympathy. 

Social  workers  who  have  spent  considerable  years  in 
the  slums  of  the  immigrant  and  who  are  exceptionally 
qualified  to  speak  of  conditions  pertaining  to  the  Italian 
home,  bring  to  the  fore  his  cooperative  qualities.  Miss 
Claghorn  thinks  that  it  is  his  ability  to  get  along  with 
others  that  makes  the  Italian  "more  steady,  sober,  provi- 
dent and  generally  more  reliable  than  his  Irish  prede- 


TO  AMERICAN  DEMOCRACY  217 

cessors."*  His  is  a  spirit  of  friendly  intercourse  and 
of  help  given  gladly.  He  is  of  a  cheery  and  pleasant  dis- 
position, and  always  of  an  optimsitic  turn  of  mind. 

How  well  the  offspring  of  this  race  are  adapting  them- 
selves to  our  American  conditions  is  shown  by  the  ready 
way  and  free  and  easy  access  they  have  into  all  strictly 
American  enterprises.  Even  if  some  of  them  are  willing 
to  work  at  a  lower  standard  of  living,  their  keen  sus- 
ceptibilities, their  intellectual  avidity  and  their  almost 
universal  commendable  desire  to  co-operate  and  improve 
conditions  impels  these  Americans  to  raise  their  stand- 
ard to  the  level  of  their  new  surroundings  and  generally 
level  with  those  with  whom  they  are  co-operating  once 
the  American  point  of  view  is  gained. 

A  concrete  instance  refuting  this  charge  of  a  "lack  of 
cooperation  and  organizability"  is  shown  in  the  illus- 
tration offered  by  Dr.  Jones  of  the  Italian  lease-holders 
and  store  keepers.  They  may  have  scraped  together 
$50  or  $100  to  begin  with,  but  this  sum  is  so  large  to 
them  that  they  are  not  willing  to  run  risks  with  it.  In 
undertaking  to  sublet  a  house  they  have  great  confidence 
in  the  honesty  of  their  people  for  each  other.  This  is 
true  of  Italian  store-keepers  also.  They  venture  into 
business  when  they  perceive  they  can  count  on  the  co- 
operation of  their  own  people.  If  the  Italian  is  noted 
for  anything  it  is  his  social  and  co-operative  qualities, 
for  they  have  flowing  within  their  veins  the  blood  of  a 
"social"  people. 

One  must  not  mistake  in  believing  that  because  Italian 
colonies  are  pointed  out  as  the  classic  instance  in  show- 
ing what  inorganizable  material  the  Southeastern  Euro- 
pean immigrants  are,  that  the  Italian  nature  is  one  that 
does  not  lend  itself  to  team-work.  To  a  keen  observer 
it  would  appear  that  this  apparent  disorganization  is  but 
a  passing  feature  of  a  period  of  upheaval  and  adjust- 
ment. With  respect  to  the  past  certainly  the  evidence 
is  all  against  this  conclusion.  Robert  A.  Woods,  who  has 
spent  a  life  time  among  the  Italian  element  of  Boston 
in  the  North  End  says : 

"Three  brilliant  races  are  bringing  forth  a  new  brood. 

*  "The  Tenement  House  Problem,"  p.  86. 


218  THE  ITALIAN  CONTRIBUTION 

The  Irish  for  the  first  time  are  having  a  just  opportunity 
to  work  out  their  destiny.  The  Jewish  race  has  an  im- 
memorial record  as  a  prolific  mother  of  genius.  The 
Italian  strain  has  historically  outstripped  all  others  twice 
—  once  politically,  and  once  intellectually  —  the  domin- 
ating power  of  the  world."* 

With  regard  to  the  present  their  position  in  South 
America,**  where  conditions  are  more  closely  allied  to 
what  they  left,  shows  their  initiative.  "The  Italians 
have  a  monopoly  of  the  corn  farms,  wine  and  wheat. 
These  uneducated,  poverty-stricken  Italian  peasants 
have  built  up  a  mighty  work  in  a  few  years.  An  Italian 
has  been  President  of  a  Republic;  the  present  Ministers 
of  Education  and  of  War  are  Italians. "f  Every  one  is 
familiar  with  the  initiative  and  industry  displayed  by 
the  Italians  on  the  abandoned  farms  of  New  England. 

TESTIMONY  OF  "POLITICAL  LEADERS"  RE- 
GARDING THEIR  PLACE  IN  OUR  AMERICAN 
DEMOCRACY— It  was  Huxley  who  said  that  "the  Ita- 
lian brain  was  the  finest  textured  in  Europe."  Yet 
whether  the  charges  against  the  mental  calibre  of  the 
Italian-speaking  people  are  imaginary  instead  of  real 
can  be  readily  seen  in  the  statement  of  Dr.  Richmond 
Mayo-Smith  formerly  of  Columbia,  who  says  of  them : 

"Ignorant,  criminal,  vicious,  eating  food  that  we  would 
not  give  to  dogs,  their  very  stolidity  and  patience  under 
such  conditions  show  that  they  lack  the  faintest  appre- 
ciation of  what  civilization  means. "J 

Or  compare  also  the  statement  of  the  economist  Gen. 
Francis  A.  Walker: 

"These  immigrants  are  beaten  men  from  beaten  races 
representing  the  worst  failures  in  the  struggle  for  exist- 
ence.    .  .  .     Europe  is  allowing  its  slums  and  its  most 

♦Woods,    R.   A,     "Americans   in    Process,"   p.   374. 

**  The  best  description  of  socio-economic  conditions  among 
Italians  in  South  America  that  has  yet  appeared  is  to  be  found 
in  Prof.  Robert  F.  Foerster's  recent  book  "The  Italian  Emigra- 
tion of  our  Times." 

t  Bolton,  King.     "Italy  To-day." 

t  Mayo-Smith,  Richmond.  "Emigration  and  Immigration," 
p.  133. 


TO  AMERICAN  DEMOCRACY  219 

stagnant  reservoirs  of  degraded  peasantry  to  be  drained 
off  upon  our  soil." 

It  is  such  charges  as  these  that  make  for  a  good  deal 
of  the  misunderstanding  and  even  prejudice  that  attaches 
to  the  descendants  of  the  more  recent  immigrant  stocks. 
Happily  with  time,  these  Americans  are  securing  the 
opportunity  to  demonstrate  how  unfounded  are  such 
charges  levelled  against  the  Italian  mind.  Intellectual 
power  is  not  absolutely  but  only  relatively  measurable 
yet  even  then  the  distinction  is  psychological  not  racial. 
Dr.  Jacobs  says : 

"The  distinction  seems  to  be  more  a  matter  of  tem- 
perament and  is  much  more  modifiable  by  education  and 
environment  than  by  purely  racial  characteristics."* 

How  well  these  Americans  are  adapting  themselves 
to  our  American  democracy  is  seen  by  the  way  they  are 
universally  received  in  the  different  parts  of  this  country. 
New  York  has  more  citizens  of  Italian  blood  than  any 
other  State  in  the  Union  and  in  each  colony  the  prevalent 
opinion  is  that  they  are  a  distinct  asset.  Lord  quotes  a 
statement  of  Mayor  Mulvhill  of  Bridgeport  who,  reply- 
ing to  the  question  "What  does  the  Italian-speaking 
citizen  bring  to  us?"  said: 

"The  Italians  are  a  religious  and  law-abiding  people 
and  will  compare  favorably  with  an  equal  portion  of 
American  citizenry,  whether  native  or  adopted."** 

At  the  beginning  it  is  true  that  fights,  quarrels,  stab- 
bings,  etc.,  were  frequent  among  the  Italians,  but  this 
condition  obtained  for  the  immigrant  and  not  for  his 
offspring.  The  most  eloquent  picture  recently  drawn  of 
this  contrast  is  that  of  Jacob  Riis,  viz : 

"Mulberry  Bend  |Was  the  worst  pig  sty  of  all.  I  do 
not  believe  that  there  was  a  week  in  all  the  twenty  years 
I  had  to  do  with  the  den  as  a  police  reporter  in  which  I 
was  not  called  to  record  there  a  stabbing  or  shooting 
afifair  or  some  other  act  of  violence." 

To-day  Mulberry  Bend  Park  populated  by  the  offspring 
of  this  previous  criminal  class  presents  in  no  way  any 

♦Journal  of  Anthropological  Institute  1895. 
**  Lord,    Trenor    and    Barrows  —  "The    Italian    in    America," 
p.  82  ff. 


220  THE  ITALIAN  CONTRIBUTION 

great  and  marked  differences  from  similar  conditions  in 
other  tenement  districts.  As  a  matter  of  fact  the  writer 
who  has  spent  five  years  as  a  social  worker  in  this  very- 
district  believes  that  there  are  worse  sections  occupied 
by  other  nationalities.  As  the  Chief  Clerk  in  a  city  of 
25,000  Italian-speaking  citizens  said: 

'There  is  no  doubt  that  at  the  present  time  the  stand- 
ard of  Italian  citizenship  is  of  a  higher  grade  than  ever 
before,  and  what  is  true  in  this  city  is  true  for  them 
throughout  the  country  at  large.  To-day  we  find  the 
Italians  taking  a  prominent  part  in  all  the  different  vo- 
cations of  life,  in  the  professions  as  well  as  in  business." 

Others  in  a  position  to  view  the  relationship  of  this 
type  to  our  whole  population  point  out  the  essential 
harmony  of  interests  that  exists  between  these  peoples 
and  others.  Mayor  Eisenmenger  of  Schenectady  which 
has  a  dense  Italian-speaking  population  believes  that : 

"They  are  not  disposed  to  jar  with  the  other  nation- 
alities and  the  Italian  is  rarely  the  aggressor  in  any  such 
dispute.  They  appear  to  be  uniformly  anxious  to  urge 
the  education  of  their  children  and  one  can't  question 
their  professional  assimilation." 

Mayor  Allen  C.  Forbes  of  Syracuse  considers  them: 

"To  be  exceptionally  reliable  and  persistent  in  their 
work  when  they  are  given  employment  and  that  they 
constitute  an  essential  part  of  the  working  community." 

There  is  no  question  among  thinking  men  that  like 
other  Americans  of  other  descents  the  Italian-speaking 
American  has  a  contribution  to  make  to  American  demo- 
cracy. How  effective  they  will  be  depends  in  a  great 
measure  upon  the  way  they  are  received  in  our  midst. 
Far  from  being  mental  degenerates  and  deficient  in  quali- 
ties of  leadership  and  initiative,  the  opposite  is  distinctly 
true.  William  Dean  Howells  always  wondered  that 
"They  do  not  still  rule  the  world  when  I  see  how  intel- 
lectually fit  they  are  to  do  it  far  beyond  any  other  race. 
Individually  they  seem  still  equipped  for  their  former 
ancient  primacy."  This  may  be  and  perhaps  is  over- 
drawn, but,  nevertheless,  in  the  Italian  character  there 
are  as  in  all  high  strung  natures  the  most  surprising  con- 
tradictions.    "In  private  life  there  is  no  more  dramatic 


TO  AMERICAN  DEMOCRACY  221 

nation  than  the  Italian ;  in  public  life  there  are  no  more 
ardent  politicians  than  the  Italians  and  their  wonderful 
intelligence,  dash  and  courage  seem  to  promise  national 
and  concerted  action  on  a  grand  scale.  There  is  no 
reason  to  despair  of  Italy.  Her  nation  as  individuals  is 
in  many  ways  the  most  gifted  in  Europe."*  An  unbiased 
glance  over  what  the  actual  accomplishments  of  this  type 
have  been  will  serve  to  effectively  dismiss  the  charge 
that  they  would  not,  if  allowed  the  normal  amount  or 
degree  of  opportunity  and  training,  evidence  reaction  of 
a  mental  standard  commensurate  with  that  of  other 
stocks 

THEORETIC  FINDINGS  OF  GENETIC  PSYCHO- 
LOGISTS— The  marked  change  in  the  vocations  of  the 
younger  generation  as  compared  to  the  one  gone  before 
reflects  differences  that  are  due  to  different  environ- 
ment, changed  economic  conditions  and  the  higher  Amer- 
ican standard  of  living — rather  than  that  any  marked 
change  in  the  racial  psychology  of  the  two  groups.  If 
we  can  establish  this  identity  of  racial  characteristics 
with  respect  to  the  individuals,  not  only  representing  the 
younger  generations  of  Americans  of  Italian  extraction, 
but  with  respect  to  the  germinal  mental  potentialities  of 
all  peoples,  it  would  do  much  towards  proving  how  un- 
founded are  many  of  the  charges  brought  forth  against 
this  particular  type.  If  to  these  theoretical  findings  of 
the  scholars  of  the  world  are  added  the  practical  obser- 
vations and  personal  testimony  of  social  economists  and 
others  who  have  spent  a  lifetime  in  studying  this  type, 
all  refuting  the  specific  charges  that  have  so  frequently 
been  levelled  against  them,  it  may  be  logically  assumed 
that  in  keeping  with  such  findings  the  American  of  Ita- 
lian extraction  is  in  no  way  different  from  many  of  the 
other  stocks  in  America.  What  may  exist  is  not  so  much 
a  psychical  as  a  sociological  difference  which  is  deter- 
mined by  the  wide  divergence  from  the  normal  socio- 
economic scale  representative  of  the  typical  Italian 
family.  This  is  true  because  the  germinal  potentialities 
of  all  peoples  of  a  superior  culture  are  relatively  uniform 
and  where  any  mental  and  material  disparity  exists,  one 

♦Emil  Reich  —  Foundations  of  Modern  Europe,  p.  174. 


222  THE  ITALIAN  CONTRIBUTION 

is  more  apt  to  find  the  perverting  factor  not  in  the  racial 
psychology  involved  but  in  the  form  of  social  organiza- 
tion that  obtains. 

What  has  often  set  people  awry  in  their  conception  of 
race  differences  has  been  the  failure  to  distinguish  prop- 
erly between  inferior  and  superior  races,  and  inferior  and 
superior  cultures.  A  superior  people  like  the  Chinese, 
for  instance,  may  be  living  on  a  low  level  of  culture,  and 
their  product  if  judged  by  a  superficial  observer,  would 
make  one  believe  the  Chinese  belong  to  an  inferior  stock. 
In  like  manner  many  of  the  alarmists  in  America,  when 
immigration  was  at  its  highest  several  years  ago,  fearing 
that  America  was  being  overrun  by  a  horde  of  inferior 
peoples,  as  the  Southern  Europeans  were  mistakenly 
supposed  to  be,  expressed  great  fears  for  the  older  stand- 
ard of  living  when  the  ensuing  inevitable  social  and 
ethnic  contacts  occurred.  An  instance  of  this  character 
is  afforded  in  the  quotation  taken  from  the  introduction 
to  Madison  Grant's  book,  "The  Passing  of  a  Great  Race," 
and  written  by  Henry  Fairfield  Osborn : 

"If  I  were  asked:  What  is  the  greatest  danger  that 
threatens  the  American  public  today?  I  should  certainly 
reply :  The  gradual  dying  out  among  our  people  of  those 
hereditary  traits  through  which  the  principles  of  our  reli- 
gious, political,  and  social  foundations  were  laid  down 
and  their  insidious  replacement  by  traits  of  a  less  noble 
character." 

Racial  backwardness  is  not  racial  inferiority.*  Racial 
backwardness  most  always  can  be  explained  by  oppres- 
sion and  lack  of  opportunity.  This  is  so,  at  any  rate, 
with  the  stocks  that  make  up  our  "newer  immigration" ; 

*A  word  of  caution  that  is  not  amiss  is  the  following:  exact 
measurement  of  race  differences  do  not  exist.  As  yet  we 
cannot  measure  shades  of  emotion,  depths  of  feeling,  inten- 
sities of  passion,  strengths  of  instincts,  etc.  Perhaps  we  never 
shall.  That  sociologist  is  brave  who  would  dare  set  up  a 
standard  for  population  increase  or  a  law  regarding  the  dis- 
tribution of  the  social  income  for  instance.  As  Boodin  so  well 
puts  it,  "in  the  study  of  social  variables  certain  cautions  are 
perhaDS  necessary  —  social  facts  are  seldom  the  result  of  one 
set  of  determinants,  generally  they  are  the  result  of  a  mul- 
tiplicity of  causes." 


TO  AMERICAN  DEMOCRACY  223 

unquestionably  this  is  so  with  the  Italian.  John  Dewey 
has  effectively  pointed  out  how  futile  it  is  to  depend 
upon  racial  psychology  for  any  explanation  of  cultural 
differences.  He  scouts  the  common  notions  that  because 
the  savage  has  no  cultivated  plants,  no  system  of  ap- 
pliances for  tending  and  regulating  plants  and  animals, 
does  not  anticipate  the  future  by  drying  meat,  has  a 
miserable  hut  for  his  habitation,  with  no  tools  or  equip- 
ment except  what  is  actually  in  use,  catches  beasts,  birds 
and  fish  with  his  hands  —  as  constituting  legitimate 
grounds  for  describing  the  "savage"  mind  in  terms  of 
"lack,"  "absence"  and  "incapacity."  Dewey  shows  that 
all  of  these  incapacities  are  part  of  a  very  positive  psy- 
chosis which  taken  in  itself  and  not  merely  measured 
against  something  else,  requires  and  exhibits  highly 
specialized  skill.  The  savage's  repugnance  to  what  we 
term  a  higher  plane  of  life  is  not  due  to  stupidity  or 
dullness  or  apathy,  or  to  any  other  merely  negative 
quality.  His  aversion  is  due  to  the  fact  that  in  a  new 
occupation  he  does  not  have  so  clear  or  intense  a  sphere 
for  the  display  of  intellectual  and  practical  skill.* 

The  veteran  psychologist.  Dr.  James  Rowland  Angeli 
attacks  the  problem  squarely  in  this  fashion : 

"We  distinguish  in  our  common  thought  and  language 
between  the  Latin  and  the  Anglo-Saxon  mind.  No  doubt 
it  would  be  a  difficult  task  to  determine  just  wherein 
consist  the  differences  that  underlie  these  popularly 
recognized  distinctions." 

"We  are  accustomed  to  look  upon  these  divergent 
traits  as  in  some  measure  due  to  the  exigencies  of  cli- 
mate and  geographical  habitat.  That  such  influences 
have  affected  physical  type  not  only  as  regards  stature 
and  color  of  skin  but  also  as  regards  many  other  details 
of  bodily  structure  is  ordinarily  accepted  as  an  obvious 
fact." 

"It  is  difficult  to  say  wherein  the  mind  of  the  young 
German  differs  from  that  of  the  young  Frenchman  and 
both  from  that  of  the  young  American ;  and  yet  some- 
where in  their  attitude  toward  social  usage,  in  their  con- 

*  Dewey,  John  —  "Interpretation  of  Savage  Mind"  Psycholo- 
gical Review. 


224  THE  ITALIAN  CONTRIBUTION 

ception  of  government,  in  their  conception  of  good  taste, 
they  may  be  indefinitely  far  apart.  How  far  these  diver- 
gencies are  matters  of  education,  and  how  far  they  are 
innate  is  very  difficult  to  determine.  A  man  is  the  child 
of  his  time  and  race  as  truly  as  of  his  parents."* 

Such  representative  views  as  these  make  out  a  case 
pointing  not  to  the  germinal  defections  of  any  one  race 
but  to  the  way  widely  different  opportunities  can  serve 
to  affect  the  civilizatory  status  attained  by  any  one  race 
of  individuals. 

ANTHRDPOLOGISTS— Likewise  the  anthropologists 
bear  witness  to  this  truth.  The  most  uncompromising 
exponent  of  the  "germinal  equality"  theory  of  race 
powers  and  the  "maximum  efficacy  of  environment"  is 
Franz  Boaz,  Professor  of  Anthropology  at  Columbia 
University.  Stated  in  a  few  words  his  theory  is  that  his- 
torical events  appear  to  have  been  much  more  potent  in 
leading  races  to  civilization  than  their  faculty,  and  it 
follows  that  the  achievements  of  races  do  not  warrant 
us  in  assuming  that  one  race  is  more  gifted  than  the 
other.**  He  then  goes  on  to  sho  whow  important  a  part 
environment  plays  on  the  development  of  races.  In  1909, 
as  the  Anthropologist  for  the  Immigration  Commission 
charged  with  the  investigation  of  bodily  changes  among 
descendants  of  immigrants,  he  found  after  measuring 
thousands  of  head  forms  that  even  in  so  short  a  period  as 
one  generation  the  long-headed  Sicilian  became  round- 
headed  in  New  York  City  while  the  round-headed 
Hebrew  became  longheaded.  While  as  he  believed  the 
approach  to  a  uniform  general  type  could  not  be  estab- 
lished, nevertheless  the  changes  were  significant  of  the 
tremendous  potency  of  the  environment  on  the  physical 
body.  Now  if  so  relatively  immutable  a  thing  as  the 
human  skull  can  be  so  radically  transformed  in  the  short 
period  of  time  between  the  arrival  of  the  immigrant  and 
the  birth  of  his  children  —  how  much  more  of  a  change 
must  the  newer  environment  effect  upon  the  more  plastic 
and  formative  parts  of  the  human  anatomy  such  as  the 

♦Angell,   Jas.    B.  —  Chapters    in    Modern    Psychology,    p.   231 
passim. 
**  Boaz  — "Mind  of  Primitive  Man"  p.  17. 


TO  AMERICAN  DEMOCRACY  225 

brain?  Such  at  least  were  the  inferences  drawn  from 
the  investigation ;  but  as  Boaz  himself  stated : 

"Italian  immigration  was  so  recent  that  individuals 
who  were  born  many  years  after  the  arrival  of  their 
parents  in  America  are  very  few  in  number  and  no  indi- 
viduals of  the  second  generation  have  been  observed. 
For  this  reason  it  is  hardly  possible  to  decide  whether 
the  cephalic  index  continues  with  the  length  of  time 
elapsed  between  the  immigration  of  the  parent  and  the 
birth  of  the  child." 

Nevertheless,  he  concludes  that 

"The  fundamental  traits  of  mind  which  are  closely 
correlated  with  the  physical  condition  of  the  body  and 
whose  development  continues  very  many  years  after 
physical  growth  has  ceased,  are  the  more  subject  to  far- 
reaching  changes."* 

Further  anthropological  evidence  is  furnished  by  Prof. 
Ellsworth  Faris  of  the  University  of  Iowa.  His  investi- 
gations with  tribes  of  primitive  peoples  lead  him  to  the 
conclusion  that 

"Instead  of  the  concept  of  different  stages  or  degrees 
of  mentaHty  we  find  it  easier  to  think  of  the  human  mind 
as  being  in  its  capacity  about  the  same  everywhere,  the 
difference  in  culture  to  be  explained  in  terms  of  the  phys- 
ical geography  or  the  stimuli  from  other  groups  or  the 
unaccountable  occurrences  of  great  men."** 

SOCIOLOGISTS— The  best  quotation  possible  from 
the  many  sociologists  who  have  frequently  declared  for 
the  great  place  that  environment  and  forms  of  social 
organization  play  in  determining  a  people's  cultural  place 
is  that  by  Geo.  E.  Howard  in  his  recent  presidential 
address  before  the  American  Sociological  Society.  He 
believes  that 

"A  fruitful  cause  of  war  is  the  false  idea  of  race  values. 
Every  race  deems  itself  superior  and  every  race  is  mis- 
taken. Modern  science  repudiates  the  dogma  of  natur- 
ally superior  races.    It  refuses  to  accept  the  color  of  the 

*  Boaz  —  "Mind  of  Primitive  Man"  p.  40. 

**  Faris,  E.  —  "Mental  Capacity  of  Savages"  —  Amerian  Jour- 
nal of  Sociology,  March  1918,  pp.  603-619. 


226  THE  ITALIAN  CONTRIBUTION 

skin,  the  color  of  the  hair,  the  slant  of  the  eye,  or  the 
shape  of  the  shin  bone  as  a  safe  index.  It  is  safe  to  say 
that  among  scholars  competent  to  render  an  authorita- 
tive judgment  the  ancient  doctrine  that  by  nature  some 
races  are  superior  and  others  inferior  has  been  rejected. 
Every  argument  advanced  in  its  support  has  been  tested 
and  found  wanting.  Every  year  brings  stronger  support 
for  the  new  doctrine  of  the  potential  equality  of  all  races. 
Peoples  differ  in  their  planes  of  cultural  development  not 
in  their  inherent  capacity  for  development.  Races  are 
low  or  high  according  to  their  rung  on  the  ladder  not 
according  to  their  ability  to  climb.  Under  the  eye  of  the 
expert  the  existing  differences  in  mental  and  moral 
status  between  brown  and  yellow,  black  and  white, 
oriental  and  occidental  appears  as  resultants  of  variations 
in  environment,  institutions,  experiences  and  opportu- 
nity."t 

Dr.  Howard  has  with  him  many  of  the  most  prominent 
thinkers  not  only  in  America  but  on  the  Continent  favor- 
ing this  view.  Even  the  latest  accepted  treatise  in  socio- 
logical theory  accepts  this  viewpoint,  viz : 

"The  stifling  conditions  of  our  society  may  bring  it  to 
pass  that  large  numbers  are  living  below  the  social 
standards  from  reasons  quite  apart  from  natural  capa- 
city. This  is  evidently  the  case  with  immigrants  coming 
from  countries  of  lower  standards  and  often  undergoing 
here  exceptional  economic  and  moral  pressure."* 

Dr.  A.  J.  Todd  in  his  new  book  "Theories  of  Social 
Progress  says : 

"Race  is  psychological.  Is  there  such  a  thing  as  "na- 
tional mind"  or  "race  psychology"  unique  and  distinct? 
Those  who  claim  there  is,  range  in  the  intensity  of  their 
conviction  all  the  way  from  belief  in  a  literal  social  brain 
to  mere  predication  of  certain  easily  recognizable  group 
qualities.  To  historical  contingency  or  environmental 
agencies  in  the  largest  sense  and  not  to  innate  faculty,  we 

t  Ideals  as  a  Factor  in  the  Future  Control  of  International 
Society,  Presidential  Address  of  George  E.  Howard,  Publica- 
tions of  the  American  Sociological  Society,  Vol.  12,  Social 
Control. 

*  Cooley,  Chas.  H.  —  "Social  Progress,"  p.  232. 


TO  AMERICAN  DEMOCRACY  227 

must  turn  for  the  real  causative  factor  in  racial  dif- 
ferences and  variations  in  culture.  Owing  to  the  inter- 
nationalizing of  human  activities  the  concept  of  race  is 
of  diminishing  importance." 

**If  we  are  ready  to  grant  as  did  the  First  Universal 
Races  Congress  in  1911  that  environmental  changes  are 
the  predominant  forces  in  modifying  group  character  the 
uncertainty  about  the  future  of  inferior  races  is  cleaned 
up.  It  becomes  possible  to  forecast  the  progressive  de- 
velopment of  all  primitive  people  if  only  the  environment 
can  be  appropriately  modified."* 

CONCLUSION — Professor  Ross  says  in  accounting 
for  disparities  between  peoples,  there  are  two  opposite 
errors  into  which  one  may  fall  —  one  the  "equality"  fal- 
lacy as  is  set  forth  by  the  anthropological  school,  and  the 
counter  fallacy  grown  up  since  Darwin  and  represented 
best  by  Chamberlain  in  Germany  and  Grant  in  this  coun- 
try which  exaggerates  the  race  factor  and  which  regards 
the  actual  and  existing  differences  between  men  as  here- 
ditary and  fixed. 

There  is  a  golden  mean  between  these  two  extreme 
positions.**  Applying  this  theory  to  the  type  here  under 
investigation,  we  may  safely  say  that  while  there  per- 
force must  be  —  considering  the  volume  of  immigrants 
—  a  certain  modicum  of  unassimilable  Italians  who  per- 
sist in  maintaining  their  low  standards  of  living  in  such 
extreme  fashion  as  to  imperil  the  vigor  of  the  American 
nation,  still  the  number  falling  within  this  class  is  so 
small  as  to  be  inconsequential  and  the  fears  that  have 
been  expressed  on  this  score  have  been  more  imaginary 

*  Proceedings  of  First  Universal  Races  Congress,  1911. 
(Quoted  from  Todd's,  Theories  of  Social  Progress,  p.  284.) 

**  This  position  is  best  expressed  by  Bristol  in  his  very  able 
work,  Social  Adaptation,  where  he  says,  "evidence  concerning 
the  difference  in  social  instincts,  keenness  of  sense  perception 
and  intellectual  and  emotional  qualities.  .  .  is  so  conflicting  as 
to  counsel  moderation  of  statement  rather  than  dogmatiza- 
tion.  .  .  Differences  in  individuals  are  unquestioned  but  when 
the  group  is  made  the  sociological  unit  the  standard  of  ability 
no  longer  is  individual,  but  social,  and  we  have  no  sure  word 
concerning  the  native  ability  of  the  average  in  any  primitive 
groups  now  extant  or  that  ever  existed."  p.  315. 


228  THE  ITALIAN  CONTRIBUTION 

than  real.  On  the  other  hand  it  must  be  said  that  these 
people  have  been  condemned  by  such  writers  as  have 
been  quoted  in  a  spirit  that  to  begin  with  was  un- 
American  before  such  individuals  had  an  opportunity  to 
demonstrate  whether  they  would  synthetize  or  not. 


TO  AMERICAN  DEMOCRACY  229 


CHAPTER  XXIII 

A   SOCIO-ETHNIC    PROBLEM 
THE  PROBLEM   STATED  —  SYNTHETIZATION 

The  task  of  democracy  from  the  socio-ethnic  stand- 
point is  primarily  synthetization  rather  than  assimila- 
tion. These  two  latter  ideas  are  different.  Assimilation 
is  the  process  of  growing  alike  or  a  ''process  of  growing 
resemblance"*  and  "is  a  mental  and  moral  process."** 
It  is  different  from  amalgamation  in  the  sociological 
sense  which  means  "that  homogeneity  of  blood  deter- 
mined by  marriage  —  or  the  tendency  to  form  about 
certain  norms  crystallized  by  marriage"t  and  which  is 
essentially  a  part  of  the  process  of  synthetization. 

When  we  think  of  synthetization  we  think  of  some- 
thing not  synonymous  with  the  former.  Synthetization 
means  fusing  in  such  a  way  as  to  have  the  product  dif- 
ferent from  any  of  its  constituent  parts  —  something 
higher  and  more  refined,  as  in  a  chemical  compound 
where  as  a  result  of  the  fusing  of  two  constituents  we 
get  by  the  synthesis  a  compound  that  is  neither  one  nor 
the  other  of  the  solubles  that  have  entered  into  its  com- 
position, but  something  more  complex  and  entirely  new 
and  different. 

The  ethnic  task  of  our  democracy  has  been  eloquently 
described  in  a  recent  address  by  the  present  Secretary 
of  the  Interior.^  In  telling  what  Americanism  was  he 
went  on  to  say  "it  is  SYNTHETIZATION  or  the  gather- 
ing together  of  different  races,  creeds,  conditions,  and 
aspirations  and  merging  them  into  one."  But  this  must 
not  be  thought  of  as  patterning  itself  after  a  copy  already 
existing.  "There  is  no  such  thing  as  an  American  race 
excepting  the  Indian.    WE  ARE  FASHIONING  A  NEW 

*F.  H.  Giddings,  "Inductive  Sociology,"  p.  101. 

**  Lectures  by  F.  H.  Giddings  at  Columbia  University,  1915 

t  Lectures  by  F.  H.  Giddings  at  Columbia  University,  1915. 

$  Address  by  Franklin  Lane  before  the  Educational  Confer- 
ence at  Washington  (see  National  Geographic  Magazine,  April. 
1918,    What  is  it  to  be  an  American?  page  348.) 


230  THE  ITALIAN  CONTRIBUTION 

PEOPLE."  To  realize  this  is  important  and  the  failure 
to  do  so  is  partially  the  reason  why  in  defining  Ameri- 
canism we  have  in  the  past  secured  such  variegated 
answers. 

The  difference  in  the  two  problems  is  subtle  but  fun- 
damental in  sociology.  It  has  been  the  basis  for  all  the 
talk  going  on  to-day  of  the  necessity  for  bringing  our 
immigrant  peoples  up  to  the  standard  of  the  cultures  pre- 
valent among  the  older  generations  here.  In  effect  this 
was  to  set  up  a  type  as  already  existing  that  represents 
the  last  word  in  things  American.  One  got  the  impres- 
sion that  the  ultimate  American  could  be  seen  walking 
on  the  streets. 

This  attitude  has  had  to  make  innumerable  shifts.  If 
one  had  lived  in  the  days  of  the  early  Nationalists  the 
discussion  then  centering  on  Americanism  would  have 
fastened  upon  a  Franklin,  a  Jefferson  or  a  Hamilton  as 
the  type  of  individual  to  which  one  had  to  conform ; 
coming  on  down  a  little  nearer  if  one  were  living  in  the 
days  of  the  Transcendentalists,  this  prototype  might 
have  been  Emerson  or  if  it  had  been  in  the  days  of  Haw- 
thorne who  wrote  those  charming  stories  of  early  settler 
life,  he  would  have  been  declared  the  TRUE  AMER- 
ICAN; or  even  in  our  own  day  there  are  many  people 
who  looked  to  Theodore  Roosevelt  as  exemplifying  all 
those  qualities  and  virtues  of  patriotism,  of  citizenship, 
of  self-sacrifice,  of  the  public  first,  that  set  him  up  as 
the  criterion.* 

The  mistake  these  people  make  is  in  hastily  assuming 
that  the  American  is  a  static  or  non-progressive  type  in 
whom  we  hope,  at  least,  all  the  good  points  of  our  past 
immigrants  are  incorporated  and  retained,  and  all  the 
bad  points  submerged  or  strained  out.  In  fact  they  fail 
to  grasp  the  fundamental  sociological  importance  of  the 
problem  in  showing  that  they  believe  our  chief  task  is  to 
assimilate — and  not  to  synthesize.**    In  the  main  what 

*  See  Newton  D.  Baker  "National  Ideals."  The  Survey,  Nov. 
25,  1916,  p.  187-189. 

**  Compare  such  statements  as  "the  native  American  has 
aWays  found  in  the  black  man  willing  followers  who  ask  only 
to  obey  the  wishes  of  the  master  race  without  trying  to  inject 


TO  AMERICAN  DEMOCRACY  231 

is  attempted  here  is  to  sound  a  note  of  caution  against 
being  led  into  undue  fears  and  un-American  action  by 
the  alarmists  who  would  have  us  restrict  our  annual 
population  influx  by  carte-blanche  legislation.  As  a 
matter  of  fact  it  is  almost  certain  that  the  continental 
nations  will  of  their  own  accord  restrict  the  number  of 
departures  for  the  first  few  years  at  any  rate  following 
the  termination  of  war  and  the  signing  of  a  peace  treaty. 

Only  recently  indeed  do  .we  see  signs  of  a  recognition 
of  this  "synthetizing"  importance  of  our  racial  groups. 
The  Carnegie  Foundation  has  set  itself  the  task  of  ascer- 
taining what  Americanism  is.  Among  other  things  it  is 
attempting  a  survey  of  Methods  of  Americanization.  One 
of  its  important  divisions  is  devoted  to  ascertaining 
what  the  influences  are  that  the  Italian  strain  exerts 
upon  our  American  democracy.  In  its  summary  of  the 
purposes  of  the  survey  the  Carnegie  Corporation  ex- 
plains : 

"Americanization  is  the  uniting  of  new  with  native- 

into  the  body  politic  their  own  views  whether  racial,  religious 
or  social."   Grant  —  The  Passing  of  a  Great  Race,  p.  78. 

"The  native  American  of  the  19th  century  was  rapidly  be- 
coming a  distinct  type."  p.  79  Ibid. 

"The  new  immigration  contained  an  increasing  number  of 
the  weak,  broken,  and  mentally  crippled  of  all  the  races  drawn 
from  the  lowest  stratum  of  the  Mediterranean  basin  and  the 
Balkans  together  with  the  hordes  of  the  wretched  submerged 
populations  of  the  Polish  ghettoes."    p.  80  Ibid. 

"It  is  no  insult  to  the  immigrant  to  say  that  he  constitutes 
one  of  the  perils  of  Americanism.  How  can  it  be  otherwise? 
Assume  that  he  is  a  law-abiding  citizen,  that  he  knows  nothing 
of  the  conspiracies  which  have  imperilled  our  safety,  that  he 
does  not  propose  to  cast  his  vote  in  the  interests  of  the  foreign 
power  and  that  the  field  of  hyphenated  citizenship  has  no  exis- 
tence for  him.  For  all  these  boons  we  are  grateful.  How  far 
does  he  understand  the  responsibilities  he  assumes  with  the 
franchise?  How  far  does  he  realize  that  he  has  become  part  of 
the  state?  How  far  can  we  depend  upon  him  in  our  hour  of 
need?"  Agnes  Repplier,  Atlantic  Monthly,  March  1915 — What 
is  an  American? 

Miss  Repplier's  fears  are  answered  by  the  fact  that  "There 
are  175,000  aliens  fighting  with  the  American  forces  abroad, 
75,000  of  whom  as  yet  have  not  taken  out  their  first  papers. 
This  leaves  out  of  account  the  many  thousands  with  the  colors 
in  this  country."  Americanization — The  Evening  Post — August 
9,  1919. 


232  THE  ITALIAN  CONTRIBUTION 

born  Americans  in  fuller  common  understanding  and  ap- 
preciation, to  secure  by  means  of  self-government  the 
highest  welfare  of  all.  Such  Americanization  should  per- 
petuate no  unchangeable  political,  domestic  and  economic 
regime  delivered  once  for  all  to  the  fathers  but  a  grow- 
ing and  inclusive  National  life,  inclusive  of  the  best 
wherever  found.  With  all  our  rich  heritages,  American- 
ism will  develop  best  thru  a  mutual  giving  and  taking 
of  contributions  from  both  newer  and  older  Americans 
in  the  interest  of  the  common  weal."* 

This  is  one  of  the  very  few  instances  we  have  that 
frankly  accepts  the  synthetizing  aspects  of  our  socio- 
ethnic  life  and  does  not  subordinate  it  to  the  orthodox 
"assimilation"  concept  which  would  have  it  that  the 
later  comer  has  first  of  all  to  become  Americanized,  in 
the  sense  of  being  patterned  after  already  existing  types. 

*  Statement  by  Allan  T.  Burns,  Director,  New  York  Times, 
Sunday,  February  2,  1919. 


TO  AMERICAN  DEMOCRACY  233 


CHAPTER  XXIV 

DOES  THIS  TYPE  OF  AMERICAN  CONTRIBUTE  TO 
AMERICAN  DEMOCRACY? 

Comparative  observations  allow  one  to  conclude  that 
there  are  many  valuable  traits  and  qualities  being  added 
to  the  store  of  assets  that  America  has  already  gained 
thru  her  immigrants,  and  also  by  this  newer  acquisition 
of  the  Italian  group. 

This  is  readily  discernible  because  in  all  the  manifesta- 
tions of  both  his  vocational  and  his  recreational  life  this 
American  of  Italian  lineage  is  easily  amalgamated.  Not 
only  in  the  "art  sense"  does  he  make  a  most  valuable 
contribution  because  it  is  one  of  the  qualities  that  we 
most  conspicuously  lack,  but  as  Miss  Brandt  continues  to 
say  "grace,  courtesy,  ambition  are  characteristics  of 
Italian  children  in  America.  The  first  two  qualities  are 
an  inheritance  that  has  come  down  to  them  thru  three 
centuries ;  the  third  is  developed  or  at  least  given  a 
chance  for  expression  by  American  conditions."* 

He  is  not  a  "persona  non  grata."  A  review  of  his 
institutions  shows  that  given  proper  social,  educational 
and  moral  stimulation  this  American  will  respond  in 
ways  that  show  him  to  be  constructively  creative.  We 
see  in  his  schemes  for  betterment  both  with  respect  to 
his  own  type  and  his  ideas  concerning  those  outside  this 
group  that  he  is  both  fertile  and  facile  in  imitation.  Un- 
deniable evidences  are  numerous  that  he  is  intellectual 
and  can  become  deliberative  and  rational.  Given  early 
in  life  a  proper  sense  of  direction  and  immunity  from  the 
vicious  influences  of  the  slums  which  cause  him  to  evolve 
a  bastard  notion  of  personal  libeitv,  we  see  that  he  does 
become  a  peaceful  and  law-abiding  American. 

Proof  of  all  this  is  easily  forthcoming  when  we  find 
that  the  institutions  of  adult  Italians  offer  no  attraction 
to  him  and  hold  no  place  in  his  life.     The  Italian  hos- 

*  Lillian  Brandt  —  A  Transplanted  Birthright  —  Charities 
1904,  Vol.  12,  p.  494. 


234  THE  ITALIAN  CONTRIBUTION 

pitals,  Italian  newspapers,  banks,  books,  clubs  are  all 
shunned  by  the  younger  generation. 

Nor  does  the  younger  generation  retain  the  language, 
customs,  ways  of  thinking,  ways  of  doing  of  the  adult 
immigrant.  Frequently  this  line  of  cleavage  between 
the  two  when  drawn  too  sharp  makes  for  much  irrita- 
tion and  friction  and  consequently  unhappiness.  And  in 
all  this  the  youngster  certainly  is  not  to  blame.  His  crime 
is  that  he  has  become  Americanized  too  fast.  He  is  re- 
sponding almost  completely  to  American  institutions, 
good  and  bad  alike. 

Examining  his  voluntary  institutions  and  his  co- 
operative eflforts,  we  see  in  them  the  complete  saturation 
of  the  mode  of  living  and  ways  of  thinking  of  the 
American  of  Italian  extraction  ;with  Americanism  and 
American  culture. 

Where  no  concrete  evidence  exists  covering  specific 
fields  of  organization  and  initiative  that  are  grounded  in 
race,  as  likely  as  not  such  a  lack  is  due  to  the  fact  that 
the  proficient  American  of  Italian  extraction  has  entered 
so  fully  into  the  spirit  of  American  life  and  custom  that 
no  evidence  of  this  sort  can  exist.  He  has  become 
completely  absorbed.  To  recreate  an  organization  for 
some  specific  purpose  on  the  basis  of  a  common  Italian 
ancestry  would  be  to  resurrect  anew  the  Italian  indivi- 
duaHty  and  a  pseudo-Americanism  would  be  the  result. 
An  absence  of  an  organization  need  not  betray  a  lack  of 
co-operation  and  organized  effort  or  lack  of  initiative ; 
it  may  well  be  indicative  of  the  fact  that  those  Ameri- 
cans of  Italian  extraction  that  are  proficient  and  capable 
are  responding  one  hundred  per  cent  to  stimuli  dis- 
tinctively American  and  have  been  completely  absorbed 
into  American  life. 

The  fact  that  so  frequently  we  meet  with  the  desire  of 
such  Americans  of  Italian  extraction  to  change  their 
names  is  an  evidence  of  this  subordination  of  things 
Italian  and  the  elevation  of  Americanism  to  a  primary 
place.  Their  general  reticence  in  the  acknowledgement 
of  their  "Italianity"  affords  added  proof  of  this  shifting 
value  of  ancestral  traits  and  racial  appendages. 

A  close  observation  of  the  personal  habits  of  hundreds 


TO  AMERICAN  DEMOCRACY  235 

of  Americans  of  Italian  extraction  will  serve  to  cor- 
roborate all  of  the  above.  Few  of  them  read  the  Italian 
newspapers ;  no  one  puts  money  in  the  numerous  Italian 
banking  agencies  scattered  thruout  the  colony;  they  do 
not  join  the  mutual  benefit  and  fraternal  orders  of  which 
among  Italians  an  overwhelming  superfluity  always 
exists ;  their  grasp  of  the  Italian  language  itself  is 
slender  and  not  overstrong,  in  many  cases  almost  nil  ; 
Italian  customs,  attendance  on  religious  rites  pertaining 
to  festive  occasions  are  absolutely  ignored,  etc.,  etc. 
Haynes  has  expressed  himself  on  this  aspect  as  follows : 

"None  brought  this  fact  (the  adoption  of  American 
ways)  more  strongly  to  my  mind  than  the  instances  of 
the  marriage  spoken  of  in  the  description  of  an  evening 
spent  with  the  Italians.  In  their  reasonable  discussion 
of  the  useless  cost  of  showy  marriages,  the  changed  atti- 
tude towards  various  kinds  of  work  —  and  especially 
noticeable  is  their  friendly  attitude  towards  other  races, 
and  nationalities.  It  is  impossible  to  discuss  all  the  many 
little  acts  which  clearly  show  the  way  these  young  Ita- 
lians have  taken  up  the  manner  of  life  here."* 

With  this  unfortunately  goes  most  of  the  sacred  herit- 
age of  Italy  that  Italian  immigrants  have  to  offer.  Pro- 
fligate America  has  done  little  to  conserve  the  heritage 
of  the  immigrants  she  has  invited  to  her  shores.  This 
however  we  hope  will  soon  be  stopped.  The  Carnegie 
Foundation  is  taking  steps  to  put  clearly  before  the  public 
eye  the  genuine  danger  and  actual  losses  sustained  by 
this  too  rapid  absorption  of  first  generation  of  Amer- 
icans, and  the  consequent  loss  of  the  heritage  of  their 
ancestors. 

The  introduction  of  so  large  a  mass  of  Italians  will 
benefit  America  in  many  ways.  Mingling  with  mem- 
bers of  different  races,  each  polishes  the  gold  and  refines 
the  dross  of  the  other.  The  natural  quality  of  the  stocks 
is  raised  and  improved  thereby,  the  biological  product 
being  revitalized  and  recreated.  This  is  of  inestimable 
importance. 

Again  the  enhanced  industrial  development  of  the 
country,  that  inevitably  follows  from  the  introduction  of 

*  Haynes,  Bryce  —  "Some  Italian  Types  of  Mind,"  p.  81. 


236  THE  ITALIAN  CONTRIBUTIOM 

so  valuable  a  "working"  and  "workable"  unit  is  incal- 
culable. Immeasurable  again,  is  the  effect  on  trade, 
commerce  and  business  generally. 

It  is  worth  while  then  for  America  on  account  of  the 
invaluable  character  of  the  raw  human  product  involved, 
to  take  careful  and  complete  steps  requisite  to  its  most 
economic  preservation.  At  the  same  time  this  large 
Italian  group  must  be  given  direction  and  afforded 
leadership  if  it  is  to  be  advantageously  used.  This  is  the 
note  sounded  by  Douglas,  who  says 

"In  summarizing  we  shall  state  some  of  the  general 
characteristics  of  the  Italian  as  we  have  found  him. 
Looseness  of  organization,  general  lack  of  leadership, 
and  small  continuity  of  effort  and  of  determination  are 
his  worse  traits.  But  he  is  sang^-ine  in  temperament,  not 
easily  discouraged,  courteous  and  affable  in  disposition 
and  generally  moderate  i.i  all  desires.  He  is  plastic  and 
acceptable  and  with  proper  training  his  worse  faults 
could  be  overcome.  His  potentialiMes  are  laro-e  but  will 
probably  be  dormant  unless  native  Americans  step  into 
the  breach  that  opportunity  has  opened."* 

♦Douglas,  David  W.  —  "The  Influence  of  the  Southern  Italian 
on  American  Society,"  p.  41. 


TO  AMERICAN  DEMOCRACY  237 


GHAPTER  XXV 

SYMPOSIUM    ON   WHAT   THE  AMERICAN   OF   ITALIAN 

EXTRACTION  SPECIFICALLY  CONTRIBUTES 

TO  AMERICAN  DEMOCRACY 

WHAT  DOES  THE  AMERICAN  OF  ITALIAN  EX- 
TRACTION GAIN  THROUGH  HIS  CONTACT  WITH 
OUR  AMERICAN  DEMOCRACY?— The  writer  decided 
to  gather  for  himself  concrete  ideas  regarding  the  posi- 
tion of  the  American  of  Italian  extraction  in  our  Ameri- 
can life.  Much  that  was  written  before  was  of  a  vague 
and  general  character.  The  symposium  which  follows 
contains  the  specific  data  in  answer  to  a  specific  ques- 
tion from  individuals  who  know  this  type  of  American.  In 
this  way  it  was  thought  that  by  gathering  concrete  facts 
rather  than  vague  and  general  ideas,  a  truer  conception 
of  the  position  that  these  Americans  hold  may  be  placed 
before  the  entire  American  public.  To  this  end  1000  of 
the  accompanying  questionnaire  on  the  following  page 
were  mailed  to  individuals  particularly  fitted  to  judge. 

It  was  decided  to  ask  the  American  of  Italian  extrac- 
tion not  what  he  himself  contributed,  for  manifestly 
personal  bias  could  not  be  altogether  eliminated — but  on 
the  contrary,  to  ascertain  what  he  gained.  As  a  result 
of  this,  we  are  apt  to  have  a  truer  picture  of  what 
America  is  really  doing,  not  only  for  these  people  but  for 
all  its  first  generation  of  Americans.  Taking  the  facts 
pointing  out  his  "gains"  and  placing  alongside  these 
the  knowledge  we  have  of  what  the  American  of  Italian 
extraction  contributes,  we  are  able  to  see  at  a  glance  the 
two  opposite  aspects  of  the  "give  and  take"  relation 
going  on  in  America  with  respect  to  Americans  of  Italian 
origin. 

As  manifestly  the  American  of  Italian  extraction  is 
the  best  judge  of  the  gains  that  are  effected,  we  can  be 
assured  that  as  a  nation,  America  is  doing  all  of  her  part 
and  doing  it  well,  for  the  statements  gathered  show 
numerous  gains ;  and  these  are  gains  that  run  through 
the  entire  gamut  of  all  possible  channels  of  development. 


238  THE  ITALIAN  CONTRIBUTION 

80  Washington  Place 
New  York  City,  New  York 
Dear  Sir: 

I  am  engaged  in  collecting  data  relative  to  the  "Socio- 
logical Status  of  Americans  of  Italian  extraction  in  New 
York  City"  which  is  to  take  printed  form  very  soon. 

I  am  interested  in  getting  up  a  symposium  of  the  facts 
concerning  this  type  of  American  from  people  who  know 
them.  The  idea  of  the  symposium  is  to  contrast  the  way 
different  types  of  individuals  look  at  the  problem  of  the 
synthetization  of  America's  composite  racial  stock — from 
the  standpoint  of  one  of  these  stocks  i.e.  the  Italian. 

For  this  purpose  it  will  help  materially  if  you  will  be 
kind  enough  to  answer  only  the  question  checked  in  blue 
pencil  below. 

1. — What  does  the  American  of  Italian  extraction  gain 
most  thru  his  contact  with  our  American  democracy? 
(to  be  answered  only  by  Americans  of  Italian  extraction) 
2. — What  does  the  American  of  Italian  extraction  lose 
thru  his  contact  with  our  American  democracy?  (Amer- 
ican life,  institutions,  customs,  etc.) 

(to  be  answered  only  by  Italians  in  New  York  City) 
3. — What  is  the  chief  contribution  that  the  American 
of  Italian  extraction  makes  to  our  American  democracy? 
(to  be  answered  only  by  Americans  of  other  descents 
than  Italian) 
Note  A. — Democracy  in  this  study  of  which  this  sym- 
posium  forms  only  a  part  is  defined  as   "that  form  of 
social  organization  in  which  every  man  has  a  fair  chance 
to  develop  himself  and  knows  that  he  has  that  chance." 

Note  B. — If  possible  please  confine  your  answer  to  one 
sentence  and  be  specific. 

Note  C. — The  ans*wer  can  be  written  on  the  back  of 
this  sheet. 

Note  D. — If  the  identity  of  the  contributor  is  not  to 
be  disclosed  please  indicate  this  in  the  reply. 

Thanking  you  in  advance  for  your  co-operation,  I  am 
Very  truly  yours, 

JOHN  H.   MARIANO, 

Assistant    Director, 
Community  Service  and  Research, 
Division  of  Public  Affairs, 
New  York  University. 


TO  AMERICAN  DEMOCRACY  239 

The  majority  of  the  replies  received  agree  in  stating 
that  the  greatest  gain  to  these  people  thru  their  contact 
with  our  institutions  and  other  objective  indices  of 
American  Democracy  is  not  "economic"  opportunity  as 
some  might  suppose  but  political  opportunity  as  evi- 
denced thru  greater  personal  freedom  and  liberty.  Great 
difficulty  however  was  experienced  in  knowing  just  what 
was  the  greatest  gain  in  the  mind  of  the  individual  con- 
tributor —  there  were  so  many.  Some  who  have  at- 
tempted to  list  the  specific  items  are  Rev.  Antonio  Man- 
gano,  author  of  "Sons  of  Italy"  who  realizing  that  jus- 
tice cannot  be  done  to  the  question  in  one  brief  state- 
ment sums  up  his  views  in  the  admirably  full  statement 
that 

"American  Democracy  very  radically  changes  the  en- 
tire life  and  character  of  the  children  of  Italian  extrac- 
tion reared  in  this  country.  Unconsciously  these  indivi- 
duals are  being  moulded  on  American  soil  and  in  an 
American  background.  The  whole  process  of  their 
thinking,  their  way  of  looking  at  life  is  so  different  from 
that  of  their  parent.  Whether  this  modification  on  their 
life  is  favorable  to  American  life  depends  upon  the  in- 
fluence which  enters  into  their  moulding.  Italian  char- 
acter is  plastic  and  easily  conforms  to  its  surroundings. 
I  mention  a  few  things  he  gains : 

1. — The  spirit  of  fair  play  and  justice. 

2. — Straightforwardness  and  honest  dealing. 

3. — Open-mindedness  —  appreciation  of  truth. 

4. — Trust  and  confidence  in  his  fellow-man. 

5. — The  knowledge  that  work  is  honorable  however 
humble. 

6. — Interest  in  fellow-man  in  a  large  way. 

Dr.  Vincent  Giliberti  lists  the  following  items: 

1. — Enthusiasm  to  achieve  great  things. 

2. — Independence  of  thought  and  action. 

3. — Love  of  freedom  (not  license)  and  justice. 

4. — Social  consciousness  developed  to  a  high  degree. 

5. — The  feeling  of  equality. 

6.- — Submission  to  the  majesty  of  the  law. 

Dr.  Antonio  Pisani,  former  member  of  the  Board  of 
Education,  which  position  gave  him  a  unique  opportunity 


240  THE  ITALIAN  CONTRIBUTION 

to  observe  the  progress  these  Americans  are  making, 
says : — 

1. — Education. 

2. — Free  speech. 

3. — A  higher  standard  of  living. 

This  is  identical  with  the  belief  of  the  Principal  of  the 
Italian  School,  Mrs.  Louisa  Deferrari  Weygandt 

1. — Educational  advantages. 

2. — Economic  opportunity. 

Paul  F.  Frabbito  w^ho  has  had  a  great  deal  of  expe- 
rience in  instructing  this  type  and  himself  is  a  graduate 
of  an  American  university  lists  the  following: 

1. — New  freedom  of  action  and  of  thought. 

2. — Liberty,  Equality  and  Fraternity  persistently  ap- 
plied. 

3. — Widening  of  his  socio-centric  interests. 

N.B. — Each  enthusiast  has  his  own  hobby  and  would 
put  his  own  pet  interest  first,  i.e.  philosophy,  economics, 
sociology,  social  worker,  etc.,  so  it  is  difficult  to  settle 
the  'most'  question. 

The  way  the  leaders  of  the  growing  "college"  genera- 
tion look  at  this  question  is  typically  represented  by  the 
views  immediately  following.  Louise  F.  Bruno,  former 
President  of  the  Hunter  College  Circolo  Italiano  feels 
that 

"The  American  of  Italian  extraction  has  gained  two 
things  thru  contact  with  American  Democracy:  (1)  he 
has  learned  to  become  progressive,  (2)  and  to  become 
democratic.  He  has  lost  all  class  prejudice  so  prevalent 
in  parts  of  Europe  and  especially  in  Italy." 

Vincent  Anello,  President  of  II  Circolo  Italiano,  Co- 
lumbia University  believes  that 

"What  the  American  of  Italian  extraction  gains  most 
is  the  idea  of  being  on  an  equal  footing  with  his  fellow- 
man;  but  tho  our  form  of  social  organization  is  one  in 
which  every  man  has  a  fair  chance  to  develop  himself, 
the  average  American  of  Italian  extraction  is  hindered 
in  his  development  because  of  economic  conditions  at 
home,  the  one  above  the  average  however  developing 
himself  unchecked  and  according  to  his  ability;  thus  to 
the  former  the  idea  of  democracy  appears  only  as  an 


TO  AMERICAN  DEMOCRACY  241 

illusion  while  to  the  latter  it  appears  and  actually  is  a 
reality. 

The  President  of  the  Barnard  Circolo  Italiano,  Irma 
Liccione  believes  that 

"Equal  opportunity  for  everything  possible  only  in  a 
democracy  is  the  gain." 

A  former  President  of  the  Columbia  University  Cir- 
colo, Wm.  N.  Barbarito,  believes  that  these  gains  are 

1. — Fear  of  Government  is  driven  away  and  joy  in  par- 
ticipation of  government  is  instilled. 

2. — Education  is  brought  to  the  doors  of  any  and  all 
who  want  it  thru  public  schools,  public  libraries,  public 
institutions,  etc. 

3. — Religion  becomes  a  choice  with  the  individual. 

4. — Greater  freedom  of  expression  in  the  home  not 
only  in  thought  but  in  action. 

The  President  of  the  Board  of  Education  in  San  Fran- 
cisco, A.  A.  D'Ancona  thinks  that, 

"The  most  important  thing  gained  is  a  gain  that  is 
common  to  people  of  all  races  —  namely  the  recognition 
that  people  of  different  ancestry  and  of  different  creeds 
can  live  together  amicably  and  in  mutual  respect." 

Assemblyman  Chas.  Novello  of  New  York  City  states 
that 

"Whatever  the  individual  does  is  recognized  and 
American  Democracy  gives  him  a  fair  chance  and  rea- 
sonable opportunity." 

To  the  President  of  the  Italian  Lawyers'  Association, 
Gerard  J.  Cuoco,  the  chief  gain  is 

"An  awakening  to  the  fact  that  people  can  govern 
themselves." 

Four  of  the  educators  prominent  in  the  life  of  the 
Italian  colony  look  at  this  gain  in  the  following  way: 
Angelo  Patri,  Principal  of  public  school  number  45, 
Bronx,  holds, 

"That  one  begins  to  feel  that  he  counts  as  an  indivi- 
dual. American  democracy  brings  him  out  of  his  reserve, 
his  humility.  America  does  for  him  what  it  does  for  all 
—  brings  about  a  respect  for  races,  of  people,  especially 
an  appreciation  of  common  peoples.  It  gives  him  faith 
in  himgelf  and  in  his  children." 


242  THE  ITALIAN  CONTRIBUTION 

To  Principal  Anthony  J.  Pugliese  of  public  school 
number  21  on  Mott  and  Elizabeth  Streets,  the  chief  gain 

"A  breadth  of  vision  for  the  future." 

Prof.  Vittorio  Racca  says  it  means  an  appreciation 

"Of  a  government  of  the  people,  for  the  people  and  by 
the  people." 

Dr.  James  P.  Croce  of  the  Fordham  Medical  College 
states  this  gain  to  be, 

"A  sense  of  true  independence  which  is  not  construed 
as  licentiousness." 

Three  well  known  doctors  whose  lives  have  been  spent 
working  among  these  peoples  also  replied  affirmatively. 
Instance  Dr.  Savini,  director  of  the  Washington  Square 
Hospital,  calling  the  gain  one  of 

*'Self  reliance  and  initiative." 

Dr.  Atonna  President  of  the  Italian  Medical  Society 
lists  the  gains  as 

"1. — Social  development. 
2. — Education. 
3. — Economic. 
4.— Political. 
5. — Moral. 

Dr.  Tomasullo  says  the  gain  is  that  represented  in 

"Coming  in  contact  with  a  real  democracy." 

General  statements  pointing  to  an  all-around  gain  are 
those  of  Dr.  A.  Palmieri,  of  the  Library  of  Congress, 
Washington,  D.  C. 

"A  fuller  consciousness  of  his  social  and  industrial 
rights ;  a  more  active  spirit  of  personal  initiative,  a  deeper 
feeling  of  religious,  political  and  social  tolerance,  the 
conscious  or  unconscious  desire  of  contributing  to  the 
welfare  and  progress  of  mankind." 

Roswell  Arrighi,  Superintendent  of  one  of  the  largest 
Italian  Sunday  Schools  of  this  city,  the  Broome  Street 
Tabernacle  feels : 

"A  strong  and  decided  development  of  one's  self  based 
upon  independence  of  thought  and  action.  A  growing 
self-respect  and  an  increasing  appreciation  for  the  bene- 
ficent institutions  made  possible  by  oiir  great  demo- 
cracy." 


TO  AMERICAN  DEMOCRACY  243 

Frank  P.  Buonora,  formerly  chairman  of  the  Italian 
section  of  the  Brooklyn  division  of  the  government's 
"War  Stamps  Savings  Sales"  says  the  gain  is 

"Independence  and  self  reliance ;  realization  of  the 
powers  of  the  individual ;  the  acquiring  of  a  better  stand- 
ard of  living;  the  loss  of  prejudice  against  any  race  and 
the  development  of  a  cosmopolitan  character.  The 
American  of  Italian  extraction  becomes  interested  and 
learns  to  develop  and  understand  duty  towards  and  love 
for  American  institutions  and  the  laws  of  the  country," 

The  question  is  bluntly  answered  by  Rocco  Fanelli 
who  states  that  he  is  familiar  with  only  one  democracy 
and  that  that  is  the  American  democracy  and  to  it  he 
owes 

"Everything  I  have  in  education,  in  economic  advan- 
tages, and  ideals." 

Luigi  Criscuolo,  the  financial  writer  for  the  Indepen- 
dent who  has  an  exceptional  grip  on  Italian  affairs  writes 
at  length,  viz : 

"This  will  depend  entirely  upon  the  point  of  view.  We 
have  in  the  United  States  Italians  of  different  social 
stations.  Some  are  reduced  men  and  women  of  gentle 
birth  and  good  education  who  lacked  opportunities  in 
Italy,  whose  estates  were  mortgaged  and  who  came 
here  to  earn  enough  money  to  pay  their  debts.  Some 
are  artisans  or  professional  men  who  after  coming  here 
make  a  distinct  success  in  life.  Some  are  peasants  who 
are  more  or  less  illiterate  and  who  have  no  ideals  or 
traditions  to  look  back  upon  and  therefore  have  the  world 
before  them.  Let  us  assume  that  none  of  these  classes 
know  English.  *  I 

"Those  gentlemen  of  reduced  circumstances  will  often 
do  menial  labor  rather  than  engage  in  trade.  Their  exe- 
cutive ability,  however,  soon  makes  them  stand  above 
their  fellow  workers ;  as  soon  as  they  learn  the  language 
they  show  that  they  can  be  useful  to  their  employers 
because  of  the  natural  respect  they  inspire  in  their 
fellow-workers  who  do  not  speak  pure  Italian.  The 
result  is  that  such  men  advance,  and  eventually  become 
owners  of  establishments.  Instead  of  returning  to  Italy 
to   live   on  their  lands,  they  become   infused  with   the 


244  THE  ITALIAN  CONTRIBUTION 

American  spirit  of  enterprise,  they  begin  to  love  the 
ideals  of  a  purely  democratic  country,  and  soon  become 
American  citizens.  By  hard  work  under  adverse  circum- 
stances they  acquire  a  competence  and  while  they  do 
not  lose  touch  with  their  fatherland  they  become  to  all  in- 
tents and  purposes  good  citizens  and  take  an  intelligent 
interest  in  all  political  questions  of  the  day,  both  local 
and  national. 

"There  is  very  little  comparison  between  the  class 
just  described  and  the  professional  man  but  a  wider  dis- 
tance between  them  and  the  artisan  class.  The  artisan 
may  be  a  skilled  mechanic  or  a  barber.  He  is  more  apt 
to  learn  English  in  a  shorter  time  than  the  professional 
man  altho  his  English  will  be  distinctly  American,  with 
an  East  Side  twang  if  he  be  a  New  Yorker.  His  chil- 
dren are  sent  to  American  schools  and  become  thorough 
Americans.  While  they  learn  more  about  Italy  and  its 
past  glories  at  school  than  they  learned  at  home,  per- 
haps more  than  their  parents  ever  knew,  they  regard 
that  as  incidental. 

"In  fact  I  have  known  children  of  artisans  who  almost 
regretted  their  Italian  birth  because  of  the  ridicule  put 
upon  them  by  children  of  other  parentage,  and  have 
claimed  to  be  French  or  Spanish  rather  than  Italian. 
However,  as  the  children  began  to  learn  something  about 
Italian  history  and  as  the  lower  class  of  Americans  began 
to  likewise  appreciate  Italy's  place  in  world  history,  the 
ridicule  to)wards  Italians  began  to  disappear.  This^  is 
particularly  so  since  the  beginning  of  the  war  which 
has  demonstrated  that  Italy  can  do  wonders  in  the  field 
and  in  industry  as  well  as  in  art.  His  children  soon  be- 
come instilled  with  Americanism  and  soon  win  high 
honors  in  school  and  colleges  and  are  ripe  for  public 
life. 

"The  children  of  the  peasants  have  a  hard  lot.  They 
are  brought  up  in  a  life  of  squalor;  their  parents  never 
knew  what  standards  of  cleanliness  were ;  their  poverty 
prevented  them  from  having  what  we  consider  very  com- 
monplace comforts.  Brought  to  the  United  States  they 
are  sent  to  school  because  it  is  compulsory  and  while 
usually  they  are  left  in  school  until  they  are  14  or  15 


TO  AMERICAN  DEMOCRACY  245 

years  of  age,  they  impress  the  school  teacher  with  their 
unusual  brightness  and  willingness  to  learn.  Teachers 
have  told  me  that  the  brightest  pupils  they  had  were  of 
Italian  birth,  particularly  the  children  of  day-laborers. 
This  is  accounted  for  by  the  fact  that  after  a  century  of 
illiteracy  the  brain  of  the  peasant  child  is  ripe  for 
absorption  of  knowledge.  Hence,  some  of  our  brightest 
Italo-Americans  come  of  blood  which  has  been  absolutely 
peasant  for  centuries.  These  boys  and  girls  gain  the 
most  because  from  a  life  of  squalor  and  poverty  they 
raise  themselves  to  relatively  eminent  positions.  The 
public  school  connection  and  contact  with  American  chil- 
dren make  them  imitate  the  manners  and  dress  of  these 
children  and  they  bring  into  their  own  homes  of  squaloi 
and  poverty  the  customs  and  naturally  clear  ideas  of  the 
American  children.  Sometimes  bad  influences  tend  to 
make  delinquents  and  as  they  grow  older  other  influence? 
make  ward  heelers  and  disreputable  politicians  out  oi 
them,  but  that  is  an  exception. 

'T  have  great  hopes  for  the  American  of  Italian  birth 
and  extraction.  Those  boys  who  follow  the  ideals  of  such 
men  as  Garibaldi,  Mazzini,  Washington,  and  Lincoln  can- 
not go  wrong.  Those  boys  who  disdain  small  ward  poli- 
tics and  strive  to  get  ahead  by  honesty  and  integrity  have 
a  great  future.  The  Italian  is  naturally  idealistic  and 
patriotic.  This  is  proven  by  the  response  of  the  young 
men  and  women  to  the  appeals  made  in  the  Liberty  Loan 
campaigns.    AVANTI !" 

The  last  to  be  quoted  in  this  connection  is  a  brief  but 
pithy  statement  of  the  well-known  lawyer  Joseph  P. 
Barbieri,  who  puts  the  *'gain"  to  be  a 

"  'Self-determination'  or  in  other  words  the  American 
of  Italian  extraction  gains  what  everybody  else  gains, 
the  knowledge  that  he  has  the  opportunity  to  develop 
his  latent  ability ;  that  it  is  up  to  him  to  make  of  himself 
all  which  he  is  capable  and  that  our  American  democracy 
not  only  gives  him  the  opportunity  but  actually  lends 
him  a  hand." 

Many  others  equally  emphatic  as  these  are  omitted 
for  lack  of  space. 

WHAT  DOES  THE  AMERICAN  OF  ITALIAN  EX- 


246  THE  ITALIAN  CONTRIBUTION 

TRACTION  LOSE  THRU  HIS  CONTACT  WITH 
AMERICAN  DEMOCRACY— In  answering  question 
number  2  it  was  extremely  difficult  to  get  the  high  per- 
centage of  replies  that  obtained  with  the  other  two  ques- 
tions for  various  reasons.  The  chief  reason  perhaps  was 
that  of  language.  In  a  number  of  cases  the  recipient 
could  not  be  sure  that  he  had  read  aright  the  question- 
naire and  so,  rather  than  to  make  a  mistake,  he  failed  to 
reply.  On  the  other  hand  some  ground  undoubtedly 
existed  for  the  fact  that  fewer  could  express  on  "paper" 
a  ''loss"  that  might  be  quite  inexpressible  or  even  tan- 
gible but  that  nevertheless  was  real.  Possibly  again^ 
misunderstandings  that  might  arise  thru  stating  a  ne- 
gative reply  may  have  deterred  a  few. 

The  attitudei  taken  by  contributors  towards  this  ques- 
tion fall  sharply  along  two  main  lines  —  one  side  hold- 
ing that  the  "losses"  far  outstrip  anything  that  is  gained; 
the  other  the  diametrically  opposite  position  and  believ- 
ing that  the  "losses"  are  nil.  Together  with  these  two 
extremes  are  views  representing  all  possible  shadings  in 
between. 

The  one  reply  that  I  have  called  "neutral"  and  which 
was  the  only  one  of  its  kind  received  in  answer  to  this 
question  is  that  of  Dr.  Eduardo  San  Giovanni  who  had  a 
long  and  intensive  training  in  Italy  and  secured  his  doc- 
torate at  the  University  of  Naples.  Professor  San  Gio- 
vanni held  that 

"Gains  and  losses  are  individual  phenomena  and  if  not 
individual  at  least  are  circumscribed  by  regional  and 
social  factors.  "Gains"  or  "losses"  on  the  part  of  a  Cala- 
brian  excavator  cannot  have  anything  in  common  with 
the  budget  of  a  Venetian  musician  who  has  likewise 
been  absorbed  by  the  American  stream." 

This  view  however  can  largely  be  discounted  as  it  is 
beside  the  point.  What  we  are  observing  here  is  neither 
a  Calabrian  excavator  nor  a  Venetian  musician  but  an 
"American  of  Italian  extraction"  who  has  either  been 
born  here  or  who  has  come  here  when  very  young.  As 
such  it  deliberately  excludes  the  adult  Italian  immigrant, 
whether  musician  or  excavator,  who  is  as  a  rule  so 
thoroly  ingrained  with  the  culture  of  the  homeland  that 


TO  AMERICAN  DEMOCRACY  247 

he  is  neither  himself  affected  in  any  great  way  by  his 
contacts  with  our  institutions  nor  contributes  creatively 
to  our  American  democracy. 

At  once  representative  of  the  view  mentioned  earlier, 
dealing  fully  and  very  intelligently  indeed  with  the 
question  of  the  "losses"  sustained  is  the  contribution 
in  Italian  by  the  Rev.  Rafaele  Fenili,  a  product  of  a 
double  civilization,  a  graduate  of  St.  Anthony's  College 
in  Rome  and  of  Columbia  University  and  at  present  an 
ordained  minister  of  the  Methodist  Church,  viz : 

"To  your  question — What  does  the  American  of  Italian 
extraction  lose  thru  his  contact  with  our  American  demo- 
cracy —  I  answer 

He  loses : 

1. — In  the  formation  of  character.  Drawing  from  two 
sources  of  a  different  nature,  that  is,  the  traditions  and 
the  education  of  his  family  and  the  American  schooling 
and  ways  of  living,  his  personality  does  not  assert  itself 
very  strongly  and  forcefully.  Receiving  at  once  a  hetero- 
geneous and  homogeneous  element  he  is  neither  simply 
Italian  nor  purely  American. 

2. — In  family  ties.  The  influence  of  the  American 
schools  can  be  seen  on  the  mind  of  the  child  in  the  em- 
phasis that  is  placed  on  the  American  language,  customs, 
and  ways  of  living.  It  is  indeed  common  to  hear  that 
children  are  ashamed  of  their  parents,  often  designating 
them  as  "dagoes,"  ignorant  and  old-fashioned  people. 
Even  the  respect  that  should  exist  in  the  relation  of 
son  to  father  is  very  often  loose  if  not  lost  altogether. 

3. — In  sentiments.  The  "do  ut  des"  is  the  fundamental 
law  of  his  life ;  and  the  supreme  aspiration  of  the  neo- 
American  is  only  "sacra  auri  fames."  Those  feelings  of 
sympathy,  of  altruism  that  so  distinguish  Italians  are 
simply  in  the  stage  of  larvae  in  the  neo-American. 

4. — In  religion.  If  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  is 
considered  the  only  true  religion,  he  lives  in  an  atmos- 
phere of  Catholicism,  Protestantism  and  Hebrewism ;  in 
the  schools  and  in  the  factories  the  contact  with  these 
two  last  is  inevitable,  therefore,  he  forms  a  religion, 
"sui  generis,"  and  of  Catholicism  he  retains  only  the 
superstitions. 


248  THE  ITALIAN  CONTRIBUTION 

5. — In  morals.  American  freedom  which  in  many  in- 
dividuals degenerates  into  license  or  "libertinage" ;  the 
corruption  to  be  found  in  large  cities ;  indecent  moving 
pictures  and  the  ease  with  which  he  finds  gay  company 
among  the  weaker  sex  naturally  do  not  form  in  the  neo- 
American  qualities  of  a  saint. 

It  goes  without  saying  that  these  losses  are  more  or 
less  accentuated  in  neo-Americans  according  to  circum- 
stances and  to  the  opportunities  of  which  they  have 
made  use." 

Along  the  same  line  is  the  contribution  of  another  Pro- 
testant clergyman,  the  Rev.  F.  J.  Panetta,  viz : 

*'The  matter  is  too  complex  to  be  answered  in  one 
sentence  but  the  chief  "losses"  to  be  regretted  are 

1. — That  they  do  not  come  into  contact  with  real 
Americans  by  whom  they  have  been  ostracized  for  well 
known  reasons. 

2. — They  lose  almost  entirely  the  idealism  which  is 
one  of  the  most  beautiful  characteristics  of  the  Latin 
race,  thinking  of  nothing  else  but  the  almighty  dollar. 

3. — It  is  to  be  regretted  also  that  a  gulf  exists  to 
separate  the  children  from  the  parents  due  chiefly  to  our 
present  system  of  education  and  the  opposition  as  im- 
parted to  the  children  which  some  stupid  teachers  have 
for  anything  that  sounds  Italian." 

The  very  well-known  Doctor  Rocco  Brindisi  of  Boston 
says : 

"The  American  of  Italian  extraction  by  his  contact 
with  American  democracy  is  partly  deprived  of  his  hered- 
itary esthetic  sense  and  love  of  home  life.  He  besides 
becomes  somewhat  unmannerly  and  too  often  undis- 
ciplined towards  his  parents." 

The  Provincial  of  the  Salesian  Order,  Rev.  E.  Coppo 
believes  that 

"The  loss  is  that  of  love  and  reverence  for  family  and 
parent." 

Professor  Mantellini  of  68  West  68th  Street  says : 

"My  observations  lead  me  to  know  that  the  American 
of  Italian  extraction  loses  the  love  for  the  country  of  his 
ancestors,  the  poetical  and  idealistic  sentiments  charac- 
teristic  of   the   Italian   people   and   the   great   and   real 


TO  AMERICAN  DEMOCRACY  249 

appreciation  of  a  race  that  has  had  such  a  glorious  past 
as  the  Italians." 

Dr.  Francesco  Ettari  of  City  College  feels  that  it  is 
this  same  loss,  namely 

''Sense  of  respect." 

Rev.  C.  R.  Simboli,  a  graduate  of  Columbia  University, 
says 

"That  in  the  commingling  of  the  Italian  with  American 
democracy  the  Italian  in  the  ceaseless  struggle  for  eco- 
nomic improvement  gradually  loses  his  distinctive  artistic 
sense,  spontaneity  and  plasticity  as  well  as  that  warmth 
of  social  intercourse  inherent  in  the  Latin  race." 

Joseph  Francolini,  president  of  the  Italian  Savings 
Bank,  the  largest  bank  of  its  kind  among  Italians  of 
this  city,  also  believes  in  widespread  losses  and  lists  them 
in  the  following  order 

"1.— Morality. 
2. — Respect. 

3. — Supervision  by  the  parent. 
4. — ^Respect  for  authority. 
5.— The  habit  of  thrift." 

Finally  a  clear  exposition  is  that  of  R.  Fanciulli,  editor 
of  the  International  Bureau  of  the  New  York  Evening 
Post,  viz : 

"The  most  conspicuous  loss  to  the  American  of  Italian 
extraction  would  seem  to  be  that  of  prestige  —  a  thing 
seldom  accorded  him  in  any  greater  measure  than  the 
prestige  commanded  by  Italians  as  a  class. 

"The  cause  for  this  may  be  partly  attributed  to  a 
characteristic  modesty,  peculiarly  Italian  which,  delight- 
ful as  it  may  be  to  those  who  understand  it,  is  never- 
theless not  generally  understood  in  America  and  has  un- 
questionably been  a  hindrance  to  the  fuller  assimilation 
of  Italians  in  the  more  influential  circles  of  political  and 
commercial  life  —  the  plane  accorded  them  not  being 
equal  to  that  accorded  those  of  Irish,  Jewish  and  pre- 
viously German  extraction." 

Jumping  to  the  other  extreme  or  to  the  position  taken 
by  those  who  feel  that  the  "losses"  are  nil,  we  have  the 
attitude  taken  by  F.  Mancini,  editor  of  II  Resveglio  of 
Denver,  Colorado,  who  writes  in  Italian  in  full : 


250  THE  ITALIAN  CONTRIBUTION 

"He  loses  that  childishness  of  character  which  ren- 
ders him  a  slave  in  a  monarchy.  He  forgets  etiquette 
which  ties  every  Italian  to  his  superior  in  authority  either 
in  business  or  in  official  life  or  by  virtue  of  birth  dif- 
ferences and  he  becomes  accustomed  to  manners  com- 
pletely liberal  which  in  daily  life  unite  every  American 
citizen  from  the  President  down. 

"Speaking  of  the  majority  of  the  Italian  immigrants 
to  the  United  States,  composed  of  what  are  known  as 
the  simple  "contadini"  from  the  mountains  of  the  Alps 
or  those  of  the  Appennines,  and  the  simple  workmen  in 
various  establishments  and  factories  and  offices,  what 
happens  is  that  they,  upon  coming  in  contact  with  the 
American  people,  lose  that  ignorance  in  which  they  were 
surrounded  upon  birth  —  they  slowly  conform  to  our 
institutions.  They  remain  free  and  honest  and  learn 
step  by  step  the  new  ways  of  American  life.  So  that 
taking  to  our  commercial  and  industrial  life  they  acquire 
stronger  convictions,  they  forget  prejudices  and  probably 
free  themselves  from  a  certain  character  of  religious 
fanaticism  and  domination  which  was  ingrafted  upon 
them  at  birth  and  not  a  few  become  the  highest  type  of 
American  citizen.  This  result  or  transformation  could 
not  have  been  possible  in  their  native  land." 

Of  a  like  tenor  is  the  statement  of  Dr.  DeLiguori  of 
Yonkers : 

"A  man  of  education  loses  nothing,  he  can  lose  only 
the  stupid  habit  of  trusting  a  monarchy  and  monarchs, 
the  only  and  real  obstacles  to  the  natural  progress  of 
civilized  society.  One  who  is  ignorant  may  be  led  to 
believe  that  liberty  is  license  and  in  this  way  lose  a  right 
understanding  of  the  liberty  that  is  his  for  the  first  time 
in  this  country." 

Also  Professor  Panarone  of  City  College : 

"The  American  of  Italian  extraction  may  sometime  in 
working-class  families  lose  that  respect  and  submission 
to  parental  authority  characteristic  of  Italian  family 
life.  The  change  is  due  to  the  greater  educational  pro- 
gress of  the  children." 

To  Professor  Sergio  of  the  Sergio  School  of  Languages 
it  is  a  question  whether  the  change  is  a  loss.  Anyway 
there  is  gone 


TO  AMERICAN  DEMOCRACY  251 

"That  inclination  to  dream  which  smothers  in  almost 
every  Italian  heart  making  him  more  practical  and  there- 
fore more  apt  to  succeed  in  the  modern  social  strife." 

Cavalier  Benefico  believes 

**That  the  American  of  Italian  extraction  has  absolutely 
nothing  to  lose  because  there  is  a  gradual  mingling  of 
the  influences  of  two  civilizations  in  his  life  and  he  profits 
from  them  both." 

The  editor  of  the  "Gazetta  del  Massachusetts"  J.  V. 
Donnaruma  says 

"The  American  of  Italian  extraction  when  in  contact 
with  American  democracy  gradually  loses  that  spirit 
which  all  over  Europe  divides  the  nations  into  different 
and  unequal  social  classes.  Our  American  democracy  is 
one  social  class." 

Pasquale  Galassi,  member  of  the  Massachusetts  Bureau 
of  Immigration  has  studied  this  question  very  carefully 
for  a  number  of  years  and  says : 

"Because  Italy  is  the  cradle  of  'Freedom'  and  the 
'Rights  of  Man,'  the  Italian  is  essentially  a  democratic 
individual. 

"Because  the  United  States  has  been  founded  on  the 
highest  ideals  of  Freedom  and  Democracy,  the  American 
is  the  best  example  of  these  ideals. 

"The  American  citizen  of  Italian  extraction,  there- 
fore, loses  nothing  of  the  essentials  of  democratic 
citizenry  when  coming  in  contact  with  American  ideals, 
customs,  and  institutions. 

"Perhaps  the  one  thing  he  gets  rid  of  very  quickly  and 
that  to  his  great  advantage,  is  the  reticence  to  take  part 
in  public  affairs  which  reticence  is  due  to  the  effect  of 
centuries  of  foreign  domination  and  oppression  of  the 
larger  part  of  Italy  previous  to  1870." 

As  a  fitting  conclusion  to  this  section  we  may  quote 
the  contribution  of  Dr.  Felice  Ferrero,  brother  of  the 
o-ifted  historian  and  formerly  Director  of  the  Italian 
Bureau  of  Information.  Dr.  Ferrero  is  one  of  the  best 
equipped  men  in  the  Italian-speaking  colony  to  speak 
upon  this  subject  because  of  his  having  an  exceptional 
grip  on  both  cultures.    He  says : 

"Whether  a  person  of  Italian  extraction  loses  or  gains 


252  THE  ITALIAN  CONTRIBUTION 

thru  his  contact  with  American  democracy  depends 
mostly  upon  the  spirit  with  which  he  comes  to  this  coun- 
try and  also,  although  much  less,  on  circumstances. 

"When  I  left  Italy  to  settle  here,  I  came  with  an 
entirely  open  mind  and  with  no  prejudices  of  any  kind, 
although  I  was  inclined  to  admire  greatly  all  that  was 
Anglo-Saxon  or  more  or  less  directly  connected  with 
Anglo-Saxon  civilization.  Consequently  I  took  up  with 
enthusiasm  whatever  appeared  to  me  in  American  life 
as  being  better  than  in  Italian  life,  still  retaining  what  I 
considered  most  valuable  from  my  early  education,  and 
now  I  find  that,  thanks  to  the  contact  with  the  American 
world,  my  personality,  if  I  may  say  so  without  offending 
modesty,  is  certainly  more  complete  than  it  would  have 
been  otherwise ;  my  understanding  of  the  world  is 
broader  and  my  enjoyment  of  life  more  thorough. 

"In  this  estimate  of  the  things  of  America,  do  not 
enter  considerations  of  success  or  lack  of  success  in  the 
material  pursuits  of  everyday  life  which  I  think  ought  to 
have  nothing  to  do  with  your  question." 

WHAT  THE  AMERICAN  OF  ITALIAN  EXTRAC- 
TION CONTRIBUTES  TO  OUR  AMERICAN  DEMO- 
CRACY— Of  course  it  is  impossible  to  publish  the  views 
of  all  the  contributors  to  the  symposium.  In  this  third 
section  in  answer  to  the  question  "What  does  the  Ameri- 
can of  Italian  extraction  contribute  to  American  Demo- 
cracy" we  have  a  varied  view  of  the  way  this  new 
infusion  of  Italian  blood  is  moulding  or  at  least  influenc- 
ing American  life.  Most  of  the  contributors  agree  that 
this  influence  is  diverse  in  character.  Nevertheless  it  is 
generally  held  that  such  contributions  fall  along  certain 
well  defined  channels.  The  views  which  we  print  in  full 
here  are  of  the  most  importance.  Only  a  few  state- 
ments can  be  included  and  only  such  as  are  indicative  of 
a  fairly  general  trend  of  opinion. 

The  vast  majority  of  replies  stated  that  some  valuable 
contribution  was  being  added  by  the  introduction  of 
these  people  into  our  midst.  The  reply  of  Maryal  Knox, 
headworker  of  the  "Little  Italy  House"  of  Brooklyn  was 
alone  in  stating  that 

"There  have  been  too  few  Americans  of  Italian  ex- 


TO  AMERICAN  DEMOCRACY  253 

traction  and  they  have  been  here  too  short  a  time  to 
have  had  any  influence  upon  American  Democracy." 

Dr.  Robert  H.  Lowie,  of  the  American  Museum  of 
National  History,  has  no  doubt 

"That  Americans  of  Italian  extraction  are  able  to  make 
a  notable  contribution  to  our  American  Democracy  but 
regret  my  little  knowledge  and  experience  which  pre- 
vents my  making  a  more  specific  reply." 

Prof.  David  Snedden,  of  Columbia  University,  gave 
almost  the  same  identical  answer : 

"Feeling  sure  that  strong  healthy  Italians  of  good 
character  make  just  as  good  citizens  as  strong  and 
healthy  immigrants  from  other  countries.  It  may  be 
that  Italians  also  make  a  particular  contribution  but  this 
is  a  point  about  which  I  am  not  certain  at  the  present 
time." 

These  were  the  only  two  answers  received  in  which 
the  contributor  stated  that  while  they  felt  that  some- 
thing was  being  contributed  they  were  unable  to  localize 
the  contribution  about  anv  one  specific  thing. 

In  addition,  three  replies  were  received  which  I  have 
called  "negative  reactions"  i.  e.,  contributions  to  the 
effect  that  instead  of  this  type  of  American  making  a 
contribution  that  is  a  "positive"  gain,  the  chief  item  that 
the  questionnaire  called  to  the  mind  of  the  person  reply- 
ing was  something  "negative"  viz, — the  view  of  George 
Trumbull  Ladd  of  Yale  University  is 

"The  industrious  and  valuable  class  of  Italians  who 
have  settled  in  Connecticut  are  making  (1)  excel- 
lent market  gardeners  and  small  farmers,  (2)  and 
stone  cutters  and  stone  masons.  The  lower  order 
are  acting  as  navvies  on  the  railroads  and  public  streets. 
A  few  are  distinguishing  themselves  in  professions  but 
only  a  few  and  some  are  in  the  smaller  local  bands  and 
orchestras.  I  regret  to  say  that  crimes  of  violence  are 
more  numerous  than  among  other  classes  of  citizens, — 
usually  arising  in  quarrels  over  women  and  gambling 
debts." 

Mr.  C.  M.  Knight,  Secretary  of  the  Young  Men's  In- 
stitute branch  of  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  which  has  a  membership 
of  over  fifty  per  cent  of  Americans  of  Italian  extraction 
says. 


254  THE  ITALIAN  CONTRIBUTION 

"I  have  only  recently  come  to  New  York  City  and  have 
no  very  firm  conviction  regarding  the  Italian.  To  me 
the  one  characteristic  that  stands  out  is  that  of  childish- 
ness. They  seem  to  lack  in  judgment,  perseverance,  and 
unselfishness,  therefore,  it  occurs  to  me  that  any  con- 
tribution which  they  might  make  to  our  democracy 
would  be  in  the  lower  strata.  They  are  laborers  and 
some  are  breaking  into  business  and  still  fewer  in  the 
professions. 

"The  above  is  brutally  frank  but  they  are  simply  some 
untested  and  preliminary  ideas  which  have  forced  them- 
selves upon  me." 

The  third  and  last  reply  of  a  similar  strain  is  that 
from  Mgr.  Chidwick,  formerly  Chaplain  of  the  sunken 
battleship  Maine  and  now  head  of  St.  Joseph's  Seminary 
in  Yonkers : 

"I  must  say  that  I  have  not  had  sufBcient  experience 
to  answer  with  authority.  There  are  qualities  we  hope 
to  see  infused  into  our  American  character  by  the  Italian, 
his  artistic  temperament,  his  affectionate  nature,  his 
seriousness  and  industry  are  known.  I  must  confess 
that  I  would  prefer  to  see  him  with  a  lesser  desire  for 
money  and  destruction  but  this  quality  well  regulated 
brings  about  thrift  and  power  which  will  be  well  used." 

All  other  correspondents  believe  that  the  American  of 
Italian  extraction  makes  some  or  many  valuable  con- 
tributions. One  of  the  most  important  contributions 
that  they  have  already  made  is  that  of  labor. 

Alison  Dodd,  the  capitalist,  puts  it  briefly  thus : 

"Physical  strength." 

Walter  T.  Diack  of  the  International  Y.  M.  C.  A.  Com- 
mittee makes  it  out  to  be, 

"Labor  and  Music." 

The  Superintendent  of  the  Labor  Bureau,  William  H. 
Meara,  believes  labor  to  be  his  most  important  contribu- 
tion, saying 

"We  find  that  they  rapidly  become  good  citizens  and 
that  labor  is  their  best  hold  on  the  consideration  of  the 
American  public.  All  Italians  display  a  marked  desire 
to  become  American  citizens.  Our  public  schools  take 
good  care  of  their  children." 


TO  AMERICAN  DEMOCRACY  255 

William  Roscoe  Thayer  of  Cambridge,  Mass.,  states 
that  he  is  rather  at  a  loss  how  to  answer  because  his 
relations  with  Italians  of  all  sorts  has  been  uniformly- 
pleasant, 

"The  chief  contribution  by  Italians  in  the  United  States 
has  been,  I  think,  a  "manovrali."  Our  subways,  or 
travels,  our  roads,  our  great  expansion  in  concrete 
works,  have  been  largely  due  to  them.  They  are  inde- 
fatigible,  patient  and  amenable  laborers.  I  regret  that 
even  now  they  are  in  some  places  exploited  by  avaricious 
contractors  and  padroni.  My  advice  to  them  always  is 
to  learn  English  and  to  become  real  Americans  as  quickly 
as  possible,  for  in  no  other  way  can  they  protect  them- 
selves from  exploitation.  Moreover  it  will  be  hence- 
forth indispensable  that  foreigners  who  come  to  this 
country  to  live  shall  be  Americanized.  A  double  alle- 
giance cannot  be  tolerated. 

"From  1840  to  1870  the  foreign  Italians  who  came 
over  were  more  or  less  educated  and  they  brought  us 
music,  but  in  this  generation,  I  think  that  the  laborers 
are  Italy's  chief  representatives  in  her  immigrants  to  us. 
We  owe  them  much." 

Norman  Hapgood  says 

"Industry  so  far;  inspiration  I  hope  hereafter." 

Rev.  M.  Angelo  Dougherty  of  Cambridge,  Vice  Chan- 
cellor of  the  Catholic  University  of  America  puts  it  this 
way: 

"They  have  given  us  much  brawn  taking  the  place  of 
the  immigrant  of  years  ago  and  they  have  also  con- 
tributed a  good  deal  to  art  —  much  to  plastic  art." 

Lawson  H.  Brown,  formerly  Secretary  of  the  East 
Harlem  Y.  M.  C.  A.  believes  this  contribution  to  be 

"Hard  Labor." 

Not  a  few  believe  that  rather  than  "labor"  the  chief 
characteristic  of  this  type  is  the  contribution  they  have 
to  make  towards  a  lightsomeness  of  character,  of  joy  in 
living  and  an  optimistic  way  of  looking  at  life.  Repre- 
sentative statements  are  those  of  M.  P.  Adams,  Superin- 
tendent of  the  Mooseheart  National  Vocational  Institute 
who  sums  this  all  up  in  the  one  word, 

"Buoyancy." 


256  THE  ITALIAN  CONTRIBUTION 

Likewise  Lawson  Purdy,  the  tax  expert  of  New  York 
City  who  calls  it, 

"Cheerfulness." 

Prof.  C.  H.  Grandgent  of  Harvard  makes  it  out  to  be  a 
lesson  to  older  Americans  for  them 

"To  appreciate  the  pleasure  that  everyday  life  affords." 

B.  M.  Anderson,  Jr.,  of  Harvard  University  says, 

"He  brings  a  joyous  attitude  towards  life,  a  spontaneity 
in  living,  which  is  a  genial  corrective  of  the  rigors  of  the 
Puritan  conscience  constituted  by  New  England." 

A  figure  exceptionally  prominent  in  the  civic  life  of 
New  York  but  whose  identity  may  not  be  disclosed  says, 

"I  incline  to  think  that  the  chief  contribution  of  the 
American  of  Italian  extraction  makes  to  American  demo- 
cracy is  the  "smiling  face"  —  that  is  —  Cheerfulness  and 
willingness  to  enjoy  life  and  make  the  best  of  it.  But 
there  are  other  contributions." 

The  most  generally  accepted  contribution  that  this 
type  of  American  makes  is  that  of  "frugality,"  thrift  and 
industriousness."  That  these  traits  belong  peculiarly  to 
the  Italian  is  attested  to  by  fully  eighteen  per  cent  (the 
highest  of  any)  of  the  total  replies  received.  Instance 
in  this  connection  the  reply  of  the  ex-Governor  of  New 
Jersey,  Walter  E.  Edge, 

"The  chief  contribution  that  the  American  of  Italian 
extraction  makes  to  our  American  Democracy  is  Thrift. 
The  persistency  with  'which  the  average  Italian  coming 
to  this  country  applies  energy  to  the  task  of  making  a 
living  or  doing  a  business  in  a  new  and  strange  environ- 
ment constitutes  a  valuable  lesson  in  Thrift  and  eco- 
nomy." 

The  statement  of  Nicholas  Murray  Butler  of  Columbia 
University  is  similar,  namely 

"That  men  of  this  type  are  distinguished  for  their 
thrift  and  energy." 

P.  P.  Claxton,  Commissioner  of  Education  holds  that, 

"The  most  important  contribution  the  American  of 
Italian  origin  makes  to  our  American  Democracy  is  a 
habit  and  spirit  of  industry  and  thrift  and  self-depen- 
dence." 

Judge  Robert  H.  Roy  attests  to  the  fact  that  for  many 


TO  AMERICAN  DEMOCRACY  257 

years  both  official  and  private  professional  duties  had 
brought  him  in  daily  contact  with  a  great  many  Ameri- 
cans of  Italian  origin  or  extraction  and  that, 

"I  have  been  impressed  with  their  industry,  their  thrift 
and  their  honesty  in  the  discharge  of  domestic  and  finan- 
cial obligations.  It  seems  to  mc  that  these  are  the  es- 
sential qualities  which  they  have  contributed  to  our 
American  life  and  the  value  of  these  qualities  cannot  be 
overestimated." 

Senator  Jas.  E.  Martine  of  New  Jersey  writes 

"His  sturdy  industry,  perseverance  and  loyalty.  To  my 
mind  these  are  the  most  marked  characteristics  of  the 
race." 

Edward  R.  Cass,  Acting  Secretary  of  the  Prison  Asso- 
ciation of  New  York  is 

"Much  impressed  with  the  American  of  Italian  ex- 
traction's industriousness  and  thrift  but  can  not  lose 
sight  of  the  problem  that  so  many  of  the  growing  Ameri- 
cans of  Italian  extraction  present,  principally  due  to 
their  becoming  Americanized  sooner  than  their  parents, 
which  often  results  in  lack  of  control  by  the  old  folks." 

Geo.  W.  Loft,  Chairman  of  the  Mayor's  Committee  on 
National  Defense  who  employs  thousands  of  this  type 
calls  him  a 

"Good  American  citizen,  very  painstaking  and  a  first 
class  workman." 

Joseph  E.  Brown,  Principal  of  public  school  number 
44  sees  this  spirit  manifested  chiefly  in, 

"Engaging  in  small  independent  business  enterprises." 

William  Dean  Howells  writes  that  it  is  his 

"Eager  and  unfailing  industry  and  politeness  until 
they  too  imagine  that  politeness  is  un-American." 

Robert  Fulton  Cutting  calls  it  an 

"Ambition  to  succeed  industrially  and  a  capacity  for 
acquiring  knowledge." 

The  President  of  the  Borough  of  Brooklyn,  Hon. 
Edward  Riegelman,  is  of  the  opinion  that 

"The  greatest  contribution  to  our  American  Demo- 
cracy made  by  the  American  of  Italian  extraction,  is  his 
habit  of  thrift." 


258  THE  ITALIAN  CONTRIBUTION 

The  same  is  the  view  of  the  clerg-yman  and  economist, 
John  A.  Ryan,  who  however  adds 

"Art." 

Finally  Geo.  T.  Dimock,  President  of  the  Standard 
Aero  Works  Company,  Elizabeth,  N.  J.,  who  employs 
thousands  of  these  people  says, 

"The  American  of  Italian  extraction  seems  to  know 
that  he  cannot  get  something  for  nothing  in  America 
or  what  is  the  same  thing  that  those  things  which  he  got 
without  giving  a  fair  return  to  society  are  of  no  worth. 
The  term  'honest  graft'  has  no  meaning  for  Italians  and 
the  political  sinecures  are  not  filled  from  their  ranks. 
The  Italian  ideas  of  industry  and  thrift  are  valuable  in 
outweighing  the  idea  common  among  some  groups  of 
peoples  that  America  is  the  land  of  easy  money  and  that 
the  most  successful  man  in  America  is  he  who  makes  the 
easiest  money." 

A  few  contributors  settled  on  the  well  recognized  close 
family  ties  within  the  Italian  home  and  state  this  to  be 
the  chief  feature  that  appeals  to  their  minds.  Among 
these  was  Dr.  Anna  Howard  Shaw,  viz : 

"If  I  were  to  state  in  a  sentence  the  impression  which 
has  been  made  upon  me  by  the  Italian  and  their  influence 
upon  American  democracy,  I  should  say  that  the  paternal 
relations  between  the  Italian  and  family  are  worthy  of 
emulation  by  American  fathers." 

Judge  A.  B.  David  of  Elizabeth,  N.  J.  also  quotes  a 
similar  view  saying  it  is 

"His  devotion  to  family  and  thrift  and  frugality." 

The  "Art"  or  the  "Esthetic"  contribution  has  many 
advocates,  and  is  the  one  specific  contribution  that  has 
been  mentioned  most,  excepting  that  of  "Thrift."  Mon- 
roe Smith  of  Columbia  University  says, 

"The  chief  contribution  it  seems  to  me,  is  Esthetic ; 
the  feeling  for  art  in  the  broadest  sense,  including  parti- 
cularly the  good  manners  which  are  the  print  of  civili- 
zation and  which  are  essential  to  the  harmony  of  social 
life." 

Likewise  Miss  Hook,  headworker  of  the  well  known 
Richmond  Hill  House  calls  their  contribution 

"A  natural  instinct  for  Art." 


TO  AMERICAN  DEMOCRACY  259 

The  well  known  social  worker  R.  N.  Brace  of  the 
Children's  Aid  Society  says 

*'It  seems  to  me  that  the  Italian  American  must  add  a 
great  deal  to  the  artistic  development  of  our  country." 

Prof.  Fred  A.  Bushee,  author  of  "Ethnic  Factors  in 
the  Population  of  Boston"  adds  to  this  sense  of  art, 

"An  intelligent  use  of  leisure." 

J.  Eugene  Whitney,  Secretary  of  the  Peoples  Uni- 
versity Extension  Society,  believes  that 

"The  chief  contribution  of  our  Italian-American  is  to 
add  an  artistic  element  to  our  American  democracy 
which  tends  to  give  even  common  workmen  an  artistic 
satisfaction  in  doing  the  best  work  possible." 

Many  more  contributions  stating  the  wonderful  cul- 
tural appreciation  that  this  element  brings  to  us  could 
be  listed  if  space  afforded.  Unfortunately  this  is  not 
possible ;  we  cannot  afford  however  to  close  this  section 
without  inserting  several  others  that  are  exceptionally 
well  stated,  viz:  Dr.  Edward  N.  Clopper,  Acting  Secre- 
tary of  the  National  Labor  Committee  says, 

"The  Italian  element  in  our  country  contributes  to 
making  our  life  more  colorful  and  ourselves  more  appre- 
ciative of  artistic  things.  The  Italian's  natural  love  for 
good  music,  painting,  sculpture,  his  appreciation  and  love 
of  life  and  color  counteract  in  a  large  measure  the 
sombre  Puritanism  of  the  Anglo-Saxon,  and  thereby 
make  our  way  of  living  more  interesting  and  attractive." 

Dr.  John  B.  Andre^vs,  Secretary  of  the  American  Asso- 
ciation for  Labor  Legislature  feels 

"The  chief  contribution  of  the  American  of  Italian 
extraction  to  our  American  democracy  to  be  the  inspira- 
tion of  his  very  keen  native  zest  for  fullest  emotional 
life  as  it  expresses  itself  in  art  and  music." 

Likewise  C.  J.  Atkinson,  Executive  Secretary  of  the 
Boy's  Club  Federation  calls  it 

"An  artistic  temperament  and  persevering  industry." 

Prof.  Ernest  H.  Wilkins  of  the  University  of  Chicago 
and  recently  head  of  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  war  work  in  Italy 
says, 

"The  chief  contribution  that  Americans  of  Italian  ex- 
traction can  make  to  our  American   democracy  is  to 


260  THE  ITALIAN  CONTRIBUTION 

impress  upon  the  American  public  the  value  of  Italian 
culture.  This  can  be  done  in  two  ways :  by  seeing  that 
young  men  and  young  women  of  Italian  origin  are  en- 
rolled in  our  educational  institutions  and  elect  courses 
in  the  language,  literature,  and  art  of  Italy;  honor  the 
Italian  name  through  devotion  in  public  service  that 
other  Americans  may  be  convinced  that  the  tree  that 
sends  forth  such  branches  is  a  noble  tree." 

I.  W.  Howerth,  author  of  "America  in  Ferment," 
states  that 

"The  esthetic  interest  and  appreciation  of  this  life, 
only  partially  realized  at  present  owing  to  a  lack  of 
recognition  on  the  part  of  other  Americans  of  other  des- 
cents, are  the  best  qualities  of  the  Italian  people." 

Prof.  C.  H.  Cooley  of  the  University  of  Michigan  hopes 
that 

"The  enrichment  of  the  art  spirit  and  the  art  produc- 
tion in  our  democracy  will  prove  to  be  the  distinctive 
contribution  (certainly  not  the  only  one)  of  the  Italian- 
American." 

From  the  "political"  or  "governmental"  angle  there 
are  many  who  attest  to  the  high  place  that  these  people 
take  in  this  particular  field.  Witness  Dr.  A.  H.  McKinney 
who  says 

"The  chief  contribution  which  the  American  of  Italian 
extraction  makes  to  American  democracy  is  an  intense 
love  of  liberty  for  himself  and  others,  for  ^vhich  he  is 
willing  to  toil  and  struggle  but  which  must  be  wisely 
directed  lest  it  degenerate  into  disregard  for  the  rights 
of  others." 

State  Senator  Loring  M.  Black,  Jr.,  says, 

"Americans  of  Italian  extraction  have  contributed  a 
rugged,  unfaltering  and  exemplary  faith  in  government 
in  America  regardless  of  their  partisan  and  political 
makeup.  They  make  the  one  group  that  has  not  been 
bodily  conscripted  into  anv  of  the  political  parties  and  all 
parties  now  realize  that  the  Italian  vote  is  not  a  certain 
vote  but  must  be  won.  The  American  woman  of  Italian 
extraction  has  given  our  womanhood  a  splendid  example 
— the  propagation  of  man." 

Georsre  Gordon  Battle  believes 


TO  AMERICAN  DEMOCRACY  261 

"The  American  of  Italian  extraction  is  sincerely  demo- 
cratic (using  the  word  in  its  broad  and  not  in  its  narrow 
political  sense)  in  his  sympathies  and  aspirations.  He 
is  intensely  individualistic  and  is  a  strong  advocate  of 
personal  freedom.  He  resents  political  domination  and 
as  soon  as  he  becomes  acquainted  with  our  language  and 
our  institutions  his  tendency  is  to  be  independent  in  his 
political  action.  There  has  been  an  inclination  to  lay 
less  stress  upon  his  material  progress  as  he  becomes 
more  prosperous  and  his  mind  turns  to  public  matters 
and  he  takes  more  interest." 

It  has  been  asserted  many  times  in  writings  about  the 
Italian  that  a  chief  distinguishing  trait  is  his  marvelous 
adaptability,  his  wonderful  sense  of  fitting-in  with  things 
and  people  at  the  right  and  appropriate  time.  Italian 
versatility  is  often  made  much  of.  For  this  view  there 
are  adherents.  Miss  Ada  Beasley  asked  by  LilHan 
Wald  to  report  on  the  contribution  of  the  American  of 
Italian  extraction  says  that 

"His  beautiful  children  and  his  extreme  adaptability 
stand  out." 

William  J.  Hogson,  Physical  Director  of  the  Y.  M.  C. 
A.  at  Poughkeepsie  and  for  many  years  associated  with 
this  type  says  that  it  is  this  quality  of  adaptability  that 
makes  it  possible  for  him 

"To,  while  breaking  away  from  the  clannishness  of  the 
home,  establish  himself  in  our  American  life  without 
loss." 

Hastings  H.  Hart  of  the  Russell  Sage  Foundation 
says  he  has  been  greatly  interested  in  the  city  of  White 
Plains  where  he  lives, 

"To  see  the  wonderful  adaptability  of  our  Italian  citi- 
zens to  American  ideas  and  to  see  the  remarkable  im- 
provement in  the  economic  condition  and  education  and 
intelligence  of  the  second  generation." 

John  A.  Shedd  of  5  West  42nd  Street,  has  had  a  re- 
markably long  experience  with  Americans  of  Italian 
extraction  and  believes 

"The  best  contribution  to  our  American  democracy 
made  by  Americans  of  Italian  extraction  is  their  rapid 
mastery  of  the  English  language  and  their  adoption  of 


262  THE  ITALIAN  CONTRIBUTION 

many  American  customs  in  their  democratic  develop- 
ment." 

Lastly  Thos.  W.  Lamont  eloquently  puts  this  adapt- 
able trait  of  this  people  as  follows : 

"I  would  say  that  one  of  the  chief  contributions  made 
by  Americans  of  Italian  extraction  to  our  American 
democracy  is  the  aptitude  with  which  they  blend  the  in- 
dividualism that  is  possible  only  in  a  democracy  with  the 
spirit  of  nationalism. 

"Italian  ancestors  of  Americans  brought  this  spirit  to 
America  many  generations  ago,  for  I  believe  it  was  the 
cry  of  Biagia  Nardi  in  the  early  thirties  of  the  last  cen- 
tury, "Italy  is  one,  the  Italian  nation,  one  sole  nation" 
that  found  its  echo  in  the  song  of  George  Pope  Morris : 
'The  watchword  recall 
Which  gave  the  Republic  her  station, 
United  we  stand,  divided  we  fall. 
It  made  and  preserved  us  a  nation.'  " 

Dr.  P.  E.  Groszmann,  Secretary  for  the  National  Asso- 
ciation for  the  Study  of  Education  of  Exceptional  Chil- 
dren, writes  at  length  viz : 

"I  have  seen  that  thousands  of  poor  Italian  immigrants 
have  developed  an  independence  of  spirit  which  in  con- 
nection with  their  deep  sentimental  temperament  has 
lifted  them  from  the  low  plane  upon  which  they  had 
been  living  in  their  Fatherland,  upon  a  much  higher 
level  and  has  made  them  ardent  members  of  this  demo- 
cratic community,  at  least  those  who  chose  to  become 
American  citizens  instead  of  returning  with  their  sav- 
ings to  Italy. 

"The  Italian  banker,  the  Italian  merchant,  the  Italian 
artist  have  become  valuable  assets  in  the  development  of 
this  country.  The  wonderful  genius  of  the  Italian  people 
freed  as  it  is  here  from  the  undemocratic  conditions  and 
the  traditions  of  oppression  which  are  characteristic  of 
most  European  nations,  will  be  a  tremendous  factor  in 
the  evolution  of  this  American  nation.  And  it  is  my 
sincere  hope  that  the  present  war  will  so  favorably  react 
upon  Italian  home  conditions  that  a  Bella  Italia  of  which 
I  have  many  most  inspiring  memories  will  be  a  freer 
and  a  happier  country  when  all  is  over," 


TO  AMERICAN  DEMOCRACY  263 

The  very  complimentary  remarks  of  the  Director  and 
Editor  of  the  National  Geographic  Society,  Gilbert  Gros- 
venor,  are  that 

"The  Italian  who  becomes  our  fellow  citizen  contri- 
butes to  our  stock  unfailing  enthusiasm  for  the  beautiful 
in  human  nature,  imagination  to  visualize  and  faith  to 
achieve  the  impossible  and  adds  to  this  tenacious  grip 
of  democratic  ideas,  qualities  that  are  essential  if  a  re- 
public is  to  continue  strong  amid  prosperity." 

C.  L.  Brownson,  Dean  of  the  College  of  the  City  of 
New  York,  where  many  Americans  of  Italian  extraction 
of  this  city  go,  says  that  in  his  judgment 

"The  chief  contribution  is  the  quality  of  devotion  to 
democratic  ideals  represented  by  such  adjectives  as 
whole-hearted,  ardent,  fervent,  enthusiastic." 

Some  very  noteworthy  statements  were  received  rela- 
tive to  the  idealism  of  Italian  nature.  His  extremely 
ardent  and  overwhelming  spontaneity  and  exuberance  in 
all  things  was  to  some  contributors  fertile  soil  for 
achievements  that  are  to  be  accredited  only  to  him 
whose  entire  soul  is  wrapped  up  in  whatever  undertaking 
he  has  to  do.  The  best  one  of  this  strain  is  that  by  H. 
H.  Wheaton,  Chief  of  the  Division  of  Immigrant  Educa- 
tion who  says, 

"That  the  chief  contribution  that  the  American  of 
Italian  extraction  makes  to  our  American  democracy  is 
quick  sympathy  for  what  he  understands  to  be  right  and 
quick  anger  for  what  he  understands  to  be  wrong.  In 
brief  —  highly  sensitive  responsivenes  to  moral  issues." 

In  a  very  simple  *way  E.  B.  S states  this  to  be 

"A  fine  idealism  for  which  they  are  all  willing  to  work 
hard." 

John  A.  Sleicher,  Editor  of  Leslie's  Weekly  calls  it 

"A  sincere  and  constant  devotion  to  America's  highest 
ideals." 

Henry  W.  Thurston  of  the  New  York  School  of  Philan- 
thropy believes  that  their  contributions  are, 

"Their  loyalty  to  friends,  to  family,  and  to  America 
plus  idealism." 

Almost  six  out  of  every  ten  who  replied  chose  to  fasten 
on  several   rather  than  on  one  specific  thing  as  being 


264  THE  ITALIAN  CONTRIBUTION 

indicative  of  what  the  American  of  Italian  extraction 
contributed.  Moreover  so  many  stated  it  was  difficult  to 
put  these  specific  contributions  down  in  a  few  words  as 
was  requested,  or  even  in  one  sentence  for  that  matter. 
Some  of  the  best  statements  listing  more  than  one  trait 
are  those  given  by  Robert  A.  Woods  of  East  End,  Bos- 
ton, viz: 

''Industry,  thrift,  skill,  loyalty,  gaiety." 

Graham  Taylor  of  Chicago  Commons : 

"Strong  family  ties,  industrial  habits,  love  of  music 
and  art,  responsiveness  to  American  spirit  and  oppor- 
tunity, good  fellowship  with  other  races." 

Lieut. -Col.  Geo.  B.  McClellan,  ex-Mayor  of  New  York 
City,  states : 

"His  industry,  his  frugality,  and  his  thrift,  his  cheer- 
fulness, his  straightforward  simple  nature,  his  courage 
and  his  devotion  to  the  land  of  his  adoption  makes  the 
American  of  Italian  extraction  one  of  the  most  valuable 
national  assets." 

William  L.  Ettinger,  Superintendent  of  New  York 
City's  public  schools  writes  that 

"The  American  of  Italian  extraction  brings  into  our 
life  the  qualities  of  industry,  frugality,  and  sobriety.  He 
gives  an  example  of  closely  knit  family  life  whose  mem- 
bers are  devoted  to  each  other  by  strong  ties  of  mutual 
affection  and  dependence.  His  fine  feeling  for  music, 
painting  and  the  plastic  arts  contributes  to  our  life  these 
sensitive  characteristics  of  the  Italian  race." 

The  poet  Robert  Underwood  Johnson  believes  his  con- 
tribution to  be 

"Industry,  good  workmanship,  and  friendly  manners." 

Arthur  W.  Towne,  Superintendent  of  the  Brooklyn 
Society  for  the  Prevention  of  Cruelty  to  Children  be- 
lieves that 

"They  are  adding  elements  of  sociability,  esthetic 
appreciation  and  industry  and  demonstrating  that  there 
are  rewards  for  those  who  have  ambition,  character  and 
ability." 

A  fine  statement  is  that  of  the  Assistant  Secretary  of 
the  American  Committee  for  Armenian  and  Syrian 
Relief,  Mr.  H.  C.  Jacquith: 


TO  AMERICAN  DEMOCRACY  265 

"Because  the  average  Italian-American  is  keen  and 
eager  to  avail  himself  of  every  opportunity  for  educa- 
tion and  to  use  his  every  stepping  stone  for  advancement 
he  has  taught  other  Americans  a  greater  appreciation  of 
democratic  institutions  and  I  believe  has  stimulated  the 
general  attendance  of  evening  schools,  libraries,  and 
other  outstanding  democratic  institutions. 

"The  Italian-American  has  made  a  real  contribution 
towards  a  more  adequate  appreciation  of  things  artistic. 
Architecture,  painting,  music,  and  w^hat  are  called  the 
plastic  arts,  have  not  only  been  stimulated  by  the  Italian 
but  the  general  American  public  has  today  an  increasing 
appreciation  of  these  neglected  phases  of  American  life 
and  the  impetus  in  this  direction  has  come  I  believe 
largely  through  the  Italian  element  in  our  racial  life." 

Jeffrey  R.  Brackett,  Director  of  the  School  of  Social 
Service,  Boston,  says  that 

"He  inclines  to  feel  that  the  Italian  love  of  beauty 
expressed  in  art  and  music  and  the  cheerfulness  of 
Italians  ought  to  be  a  distinct  help  in  American  life." 

So  another  Director  of  a  Social  Economy  School,  Geo. 
B.  Mangold  of  the  University  of  Missouri  says : 

"The  chief  contribution  that  the  American  of  Italian 
extraction  makes  to  our  American  democracy  is  to 
demonstrate  the  value  of  industriousness  and  thrift,  and 
to  inculcate  the  ideals  represented  by  these  qualities  to 
some  extent  into  our  national  life.  He  is  helping  to  bring 
democracy  out  of  the  clouds  and  setting  it  on  solid 
ground.  The  sociability  of  the  man  of  Italian  descent 
is  also  an  important  contribution  since  the  ultimate  suc- 
cess of  a  democracy  depends  partly  upon  the  habit  of 
developing  friendly  contacts." 

George  S,  Davis,  President  of  Hunter  College,  where 
most  of  the  American  girls  of  Italian  extraction  living 
in  New  York  City  go  for  their  collegiate  training  says : 

"From  my  association  with  Americans  of  Italian  ex- 
traction I  have  formed  the  opinion  that  they  possess  a 
certain  political  and  social  poise  which  contributes 
greatly  to  the  stability  and  the  orderly  development  of 
our  institutions." 

Prof.  Oscar  Kuhns  of  Wesleyan  University  writes  that 


266  THE  ITALIAN  CONTRIBUTION 

"The  American  of  Italian  extraction  is  hard  working 
and  industrious.  No  one  ever  saw  a  lazy  Italian.  He  is 
above  all  the  railroad  builder  of  the  world.  Then  again 
Italy  is  the  home  of  art  in  the  highest  sense  of  the  word: 
the  greatest  artists,  sculptors  and  architects  have  been 
Italians.  Not  only  in  these  men  of  genius  has  the 
artistic  instinct  existed  but  we  find  it  today  among 
Italians  of  all  classes.  In  this  respect  they  give  much  to 
America  by  cultivating  the  appreciation  of  the  various 
forms  of  art  which  adds  so  much  to  the  intellectual  life 
of  a  country. 

"Finally  he  adds  to  our  democracy  by  his  unbounded 
enthusiasm  and  patriotism.  In  the  present  crisis  no  class 
of  our  citizens  has  responded  more  nobly  to  the  call  of 
their  country." 

Wm.  E.  Davenport,  Headworker  of  the  Italian  Settle- 
ment in  Brooklyn  who  has  had  contact  with  people  of 
Italian  blood  in  Italy  as  well  as  here  says : 

"That  the  thrift  and  skilled  industry  of  Italian  ex- 
traction and  their  tendency  to  maintain  a  high  quality  of 
workmanship  through  an  inborn  artistic  feeling  is  one 
characteristic  contribution  that  they  contribute  to  Amer- 
ican life.  Vigor  of  family  life  illustrative  of  unimpaired 
nervous  endowment  and  essential  moral  stamina  is  an- 
other." 

A  very  unusual  way  of  looking  at  the  question  is 
shown  in  the  lengthy  contribution  written  by  Prof. 
Lindley  M.  Keasbey,  now  Editor  of  "The  International" 
who  says : 

"European  civilization  is  made  up  of  two  parts :  The 
Beer  and  Butter  civilization  of  the  North  and  the  Wine 
and  Oil  civilization  of  the  South.  The  Beer  and  Butter 
people  are  made  up  of  Nordics  and  Alpines,  the  Wines 
and  Oil  people  are  predominate  of  Mediterranean  stock, 
stock. 

"Our  environment  and  conditions  are  such  as  to  give 
rise  to  Beer  and  Butter  and  a  Wine  and  Oil  civilization 
in  the  United  States.  Except,  however,  for  the  Spanish 
and  the  French  our  wine  and  oil  region  has  been  occupied 
and  developed  for  the  most  part  iDy  Anglo-Saxons  and 
Teutons  who  are  Beer  and  Butter  people.     As  Nordics 


TO  AMERICAN  DEMOCRACY  267 

and  Alpines  they  have  done  well  in  their  strenuous  ways. 
But  when  all  is  said  they  have  never  really  adapted 
themselves  to  our  Wine  and  Oil  conditions,  nor  have  they 
made  of  this  southern  section  what  it  is  destined  to  be. 
"This,  I  take  it,  is  the  chief  contribution  of  Americans 
of  Italian  descent.  They  have  gone  into  and  are  develop- 
ing our  Southern  sea-board  states  and  wherever  they  go 
they  are  continuing  the  good  work  begun  by  their  Wine 
and  Oil  predecessors,  the  Spanish  and  the  French.  The 
Italians  really  understand  the  true  characteristics  of 
Mediterranean  civilization  and  are  the  very  best  of  all 
the  Wine  and  Oil  people  to  realize  its  possibilities  in  the 
United  States.  May  the  Gulf  and  the  Caribbean  sec- 
tions, which  constitute  our  American  Mediterranean, 
receive  them  as  they  should  and  allow  them  to  play  their 
part  in  this  country  as  they  already  have  in  such  great 
measure  abroad." 

Howard  R.  Knight,  Superintendent  of  Playgrounds 
for  Locust  Valley,  L.  I.  says  he  contributes 

"A  remarkable  capacity  for  intense  loyalty,  an  excep- 
tionally fine  appreciation  for  artistic  values,  and  an  un- 
usual willingness  to  work  in  order  to  accomplish  the  goal 
he  sets  for  himself." 

Will  Irvin  of  the  Bureau  of  Public  Information  lists 
the  contributions  in  the  following  order: 
"His  industry. 
His  sense  of  the  art  of  living. 
His  intellectuality." 
Albert  Bushnell  Hart  of  Harvard  University  says : 
"I  have  looked  upon  the  Italian  immigrant  to  the  United 
States  as  one  of  the  most  valuable  foreign  elements  from 
their  large  population  and  their  untiring  industry.    They 
bring  highly  skilled  trades  approaching  and  often  reach- 
ing the  point  of  industrial  arts.    They  bring  a  passionate 
interest  in  the  welfare  of  their  children.     Many  of  the 
Italians  readily  seek  citizenship  and  tie  themselves  with 
this  country  permanently." 

Almost  identical  is  the  statement  by  President  Emeri- 
tus Chas.  W.  Eliot  of  Harvard  University,  viz : 

"He  contributes  a  good  deal  of  hard,  faithful  labor; 
he  often  proves  himself  a  skillful  and  industrial  trader 
and  distributor. 


268  THE  ITALIAN  CONTRIBUTION 

"His  wife  bears  more  children  and  takes  wiser  care 
of  daughters  than  the  average  American  wife. 

"He  is  a  real  lover  of  liberty,  although  he  has  had 
little  experience  with  political  liberty  unless  he  came 
from  Piedmont." 

Mr.  Lewis  Butcher,  Superintendent  of  the  Newsboys' 
Lodging  House,  who  has  observed  thousands  of  this  type 
says: 

"He  is  convinced  by  careful  observation  that  this  is 
one  of  the  best  types  that  is  in  our  midst  —  a  type  that 
assimilates  readily,  falls  into  line  with  American  ways, 
customs  and  institutions,  and  speedily  becomes  successful 
in  the  professions  or  businesses  they  enter.  They  are 
law-abiding,  dependable  and  forward-looking  citizens. 

"I  have  noticed  that  he  has  a  very  keen  sense  of  justice 
and  is  easily  aroused  when  he  feels  he  is  being  imposed 
upon.  Innumerable  illustrations  I  have  in  mind  have 
demonstrated  the  ardor,  tenacity  and  indefatigable 
energy  and  determination  which  is  characteristic  of  the 
entire  Italian  population. 

"Again  the  Italian-American  has  made  a  great  contri- 
bution to  America  through  his  inherent  appreciation  of 
the  higher  arts  like  music,  the  drama,  sculpture,  paint- 
ing, architecture,  etc.  I  have  observed  a  wonderful  illus- 
tration of  this  in  the  children  of  the  Italian  School  of 
the  Children's  Aid  Society.  Their  entertainments  and 
public  presentations  are  artistic  and  the  Italian  tempera- 
ment is  given  full  play  in  its  relation  to  music,  drama- 
tics, public  address  and  handicraft.  When  the  Italian 
children  sing,  they  sing  with  an  enthusiasm  that  is  con- 
tagious ;  when  they  speak  they  bring  to  view  that  force 
and  sentiment  which  is  the  very  embodiment  of  energy 
and  life. 

"When  handicrafts  such  as  sewing,  knitting,  ^  and 
kindred  work  are  considered,  the  specimens  show  origin- 
ality and  imagination.  The  Italian-American  is  a  credit 
to  his  forbears  in  Italy  and  rapidly  develops  into  an 
American  of  a  clean,  patriotic  and  worthy  type." 

Heloise  Durant  Rose,  Founder  of  the  Dante  League 
of  America  savs : 

"The  family  affection,  thrift,  and  artistic  appreciation 


TO  AMERICAN  DEMOCRACY  269 

of  the  Americans   of  Italian   extraction   must   ever  be 
valuable  contributions  to  our  American  democracy." 

Prof.  Robert  F.  Foerster  of  Harvard  University  be- 
lieves that 

"Into  the  vi^orld  of  practical  affairs  he  brings  his  vigi- 
lant sense  of  economy ;  into  the  ideal  world  he  brings  a 
perception  of  beauty  that  should  prove  of  lasting  value 
in  moulding  our  tastes." 

Prof.  A.  J.  Todd,  Professor  of  Sociology,  and  Director 
of  the  School  for  Social  Economy  at  the  University  of 
Minnesota  states  that 

"My  observation  of  Americans  of  Italian  extraction  is 
that  he  contributes  thrift,  a  willingness  to  work,  a  sense 
of  art  and  joy  in  living  to  our  American  democracy. 
Having  lived  for  a  considerable  time  in  the  Italian  quar- 
ter of  San  Francisco  I  can  also  testify  that  they  make 
excellent  neighbors." 

Charlotte  Perkins  Oilman  lists : 

"A  cheerful  and  competent  industry. 

High  scientific,  mechanical  and  artistic  ability. 

A  contented  and  home  loving  spirit." 

John  Collier  says : 

"He  contributes  to  our  civilization  and  therefore  to 
our  democracy  that  HELLENIC  element  which  Matthew 
Arnold  contrasts  with  the  HEBRAIC  element.  Not 
merely  beauty  and  idealism  and  a  tendency  to*wards  en- 
couraging fullness  of  life  but  an  intellectual  realism 
whose  activity  is  predicated  on  this  esthetic  view  of  life. 

N.  B.— In  the  social  synthesis  HELLENISM  AND 
HEBRAISM  are  complimentary  tendencies  and  they  are 
not  to  be  found  monopolized  in  pure  form  by  any  one 
group." 

The  very  full  reply  of  Dr.  C.  A.  Prosser,  Director  of 
the  Federal  Bureau  for  Vocational  Education  is  given  at 
length  because  of  the  years  of  contact  that  Dr.  Prosser 
has  had  with  Americans  of  Italian  blood,  viz : 

"I  was  closely  associated  with  Italian  teachers  and 
Italian  children  in  New  York  City  for  some  three  or 
four  years  and  lived  a  year  in  the  Italian  quarters  on 
Hester  Street. 

"The  Italian  of  course  brings  to  America  all  his  native 


270  THE  ITALIAN  CONTRIBUTION 

characteristics,  good  and  bad.  I  must  confess  that  I 
have  seen  very  little  of  the  bad.  The  thing  that  is  bad 
which  I  would  fear  were  it  not  that  I  see  it  changing  so 
rapidly  is  the  absolute  domination  of  the  Italian  laborer 
over  his  wife.  At  the  same  time  it  should  be  said  that 
the  Italian  husband  and  father  is  in  his  way  devoted  to 
his  family  and  suffers  keenly  their  adversities. 

"Over  against  this,  one  must  set  (and  it  more  than 
counterbalances  the  scales)  an  artistic  instinct,  a  love  of 
good  music,  and  a  sense  of  form  and  color,  particularly 
the  latter,  the  possession  of  an  artistic  ability  not  to  be 
found  even  amongst  similar  groups  of  French  immi- 
grants. 

'Tn  addition  the  Italian  brings  a  joy  of  living  and  a 
capacity  to  play  and  to  throw  off  troubles  with  his  play 
which  is  of  no  small  part  in  relieving  the  stress  of 
living  in  crowded  quarters  in  New  York. 

"Best  of  all  even  when  he  has  not  been  naturalized  (a 
thing  to  be  said  against  the  Italian)  he  has  shown  a 
capacity  to  assimilate  himself  into  American  life  and  an 
appreciation  of  democratic  institutions  and  a  loyalty 
equal  to  that  of  any  foreign  population." 

Henry  Dwight  Sedgwick  writes : 

"The  American  of  Italian  extraction  brings  to  our  con- 
ception of  democracy  which  in  the  main  is  a  development 
of  English  tradition,  the  Latin  conception  of  democracy 
which  is  bolder,  more  fundamental,  more  deeply  affected 
by  the  doctrine  i.e.,  an  absence  of  all  privilege  than  ours 
is  and  thereby  gives  to  our  more  cautious  and  experi- 
mental conception  a  broader  and  more  permanent  basis." 

For  one  of  the  best  all-around  presentations  of  this 
type's  influence  upon  our  American  life,  we  give  at 
length  the  well  executed  contribution  of  Prof.  James 
Geddes,  Jr.,  of  Boston  University,  viz: 

"What  is  the  chief  contribution  that  the  American  of 
Italian  extraction  makes  to  our  American  democracy? 
Stated  in  a  single  sentence  the  chief  contribution  at  the 
present  time  of  the  American  of  Italian  extraction  to 
American  democracy  is  the  stimulus  he  gives  to  agricul- 
tural, industrial,  scientific  and  cultural  activities. 

"In  the  four  centuries  that  have  intervened  between 


TO  AMERICAN  DEMOCRACY  271 

Columbus  and  Marconi,  comparatively  few  Italians  have 
played  any  conspicuous  part,  and  this  for  the  simple 
reason  that  Italian  immigration  is  of  very  recent  date. 
As  late  as  1850  there  were  fewer  than  4000  immigrants 
from  Italy  in  the  whole  United  States.  It  is  within  the 
last  quarter  of  a  century  particularly  that  a  great  change 
has  come  over  the  Italian  people.  They  have  begun  to 
invent,  to  do  farming  in  a  modern  way  on  a  large  scale, 
to  manufacture,  to  engage  in  commerce  and  state  affairs, 
and  to  cultivate  the  fine  arts.  More  than  3000  Italians 
crossed  the  ocean  in  1914  to  visit  the  St.  Louis  Exposi- 
tion and  do  business  with  the  United  States.  The  stream 
of  educated  Italians  has  kept  on  coming  ever  since. 

"The  impulse  along  agricultural  lines  may  be  felt  in 
the  many  beautiful  garden  sections  cultivated  in  this 
country  by  Italians,  notably  in  Connecticut  where  they 
have  made  the  rocky  hills  "blossom  as  the  rose,"  and  in 
Bryan,  Texas,  center  of  an  ever-increasing  and  thrifty 
colony.  In  industrial  activity  it  is  well  known  that  the 
founders  of  the  extensive  wine  business  in  California 
are  Italians.  Along  scientific  lines  the  followers  of  Mar- 
coni, Ansaldo  and  Caproni  are  forging  steadily  ahead, 
and  in  cultural  activities  and  the  fine  arts  one  has  only 
to  glance  through  the  lists  of  names  of  those  composing 
the  personnel  of  artists,  sculptors,  actors,  musicians  and 
grand  opera  singers  to  realize  the  important  role  played 
by  Italians  in  the  world  of  art. 

"The  influence  of  our  Italian  population  in  these  and 
many  other  activities  in  our  national  life  is  undoubtedly 
very  great.  The  innate  prestige  that  attaches  itself  to 
Italy  and  to  Rome  is  perpetual  and  enduring.  Are  not 
these  Italians  of  our  day  the  new  type  of  the  old  Romans 
whose  civilization  in  many  ways  has  never  been  sur- 
passed and  whose  aims,  ideals,  and  results  offer  an 
incentive  to  higher  effort  along  many  lines  of  activity? 
In  striving  to  keep  abreast  of  these  ideals  and  results  the 
Americans,  in  a  measure  subconsciously,  are  undergoing 
the  influence  of  the  rising  generation  of  Italians  born  in 
this  country.  The  latter  are  furnishing  the  former  the 
strongest  incentives  to  effort  not  only  to  achieve  but  to 
surpass  all  that  has  ever  been  accomplished  in  order  to 
obtain  all  that  is  most  worth  while, 


272  THE  ITALIAN  CONTRIBUTION 

"From  the  earliest  times  the  democratic  spirit  of  the 
Italians  has  been  manifest  on  the  world  through  their 
tribunes  —  to  go  back  to  the  Gracchi  —  and  we  have  had 
right  here  in  our  Italian  colony  of  Boston  their  worthy- 
imitators  both  patrician  and  plebian.  True  democracy 
may  be  said  to  have  begun  with  government  by  the 
people  in  the  times  of  the  Italian  Republics  when  the 
arts  and  crafts,  especially  in  Florence,  figured  so  notably. 
And  in  our  own  day,  just  before  the  beginning  of  the 
present  world  war,  was  not  il  Re  soldato  called  //  Re 
democraticof 

'That  the  Italian  people  are  democratic  is  shown  right 
here  among  ourselves  by  the  whole-hearted  way  they 
accept  our  ideal  of  democratic  government.  Those  born 
in  this  country  are  emphatically  loyal  as  shown  by  the 
fact  that  of  all  our  volunteers  for  military  service  re- 
cently, the  Italians  made  the  highest  record,  with  70,000 
men,  or  twenty  per  cent  of  the  total  number.  Moreover, 
this  loyal  democratic  spirit  is  emphasized  by  their  gen- 
erous contributions  to  the  American  Red  Cross,  by  their 
extensive  purchase  of  Liberty  Bonds  and  war  stamps,  by 
their  participation  in  the  work  in  the  munition  factories 
and  other  government  enterprises.  It  is  this  same  popular 
democratic  spirit  that  manifests  itself  in  the  effective 
propaganda  carried  on  by  means  of  continual  patriotic 
meetings  with  speeches  galore  sufficient  to  galvanize 
the  most  lethargic,  by  flag  raisings,  by  popular  concerts, 
by  the  Italian  Press,  and  the  organization  of  the  Italian 
Legion,  all  tending  strongly  to  keep  up  the  morale  and 
deal  a  knockout  blow  to  Teutonic  kultur. 

"Our  American-born  Italians  are  descended  from  that 
land  of  liberty  which  gave  to  the  world  Columbus,  Maz- 
zini,  Garibaldi,  and  Cavour,  knights  of  democracy  and 
humanity.  It  may  be  said  that  their  descendants  in  this 
country  are  in  a  general  way  exerting  their  greatest 
influence  by  popularizing  arts  identified  largely  with 
Italy :  music,  painting,  and  sculpture,  embroidery  and 
lace  making  in  which  the  Italian  women  have  always 
excelled,  thus  as  it  were,  democratizing  the  fine  art. 
Indeed  of  all  the  elements  amalgamated  together  that 
are  leavening  our  immense  democratic  lump,  there  is 


TO  AMERICAN  DEMOCRACY  273 

none  whose  flavor  promises  to  be  more  highly  appre- 
ciated than  that  inheritance  within  our  own  ranks  which 
we  have  received  from  Italy." 

The  last  two  replies  we  shall  quote  are  eloquent  and 
pithy  though  they  look  at  the  question  from  different 
and  even  unusual  angles.  Dr.  Thomas  Jesse  Jones  spent 
some  years  in  investigating  the  home  conditions  of 
Americans  of  Italian  extraction  and  incorporated  in  his 
excellent  "Sociology  of  a  New  York  City  Block"  the 
fruits  of  his  labors.  Dr.  Jones  who  is  now  a  "Specialist" 
in  Education  for  the  Department  of  the  Interior  has 
emphasized  the  psychological  aspects  of  the  contribu- 
tions that  foreigners  make  to  our  American  life  per- 
haps better  than  anyone  else.  His  answer  in  this  in- 
stance as  applied  to  the  contribution  of  the  Italian  is : 

"The  chief  contribution  of  the  American  of  Italian 
extraction  to  American  democracy  is  the  quality  of 
devotion  to  democratic  ideals  represented  by  such  ad- 
jectives as  whole-hearted,  whole-souled,  ardent,  fervent, 
enthusiastic." 

As  a  fitting  conclusion  we  quote  the  simple  but  elo- 
quent statement  of  Rabbi  Stephen  S.  Wise : 

"The  chief  contribution  that  the  American  of  Italian 
extraction  may  make  to  our  democracy  is  to  remember 
that  while  his  goal  is  AMERICA,  his  starting  point  is 
Italy;  that  he  is  not  to  submerge  his  Italianism  in 
America  but  to  merge  it  with  Americanism  at  its  highest. 
He  is  to  bring  to  America  consciously  and  of  purpose 
that  Latin  reverence  for  law  which  must  underlie  the 
democratic  order." 

SUMMARY  AND  CONCLUSIONS— In  attempting  to 
get  a  representative  consensus  of  definite  opinions  re- 
garding the  specific  contribution  that  the  American  of 
Italian  blood  makes  to  our  American  Democracy,  the 
writer  has  not,  as  the  results  show,  proved  anything 
that  was  not  heretofore  pretty  generally  accepted,  nor 
are  the  results  which  the  symposium  brings  to  light 
different  from  those  which  he  expected. 

It  is  from  a  standpoint  of  classification  that  this 
attempt  to  array  together  the  facts  pertaining  to  the 
value  of  this  type  of  American,  is  chiefly  valuable.     In 


274  THE  ITALIAN  CONTRIBUTION 

the  past  it  has  been  the  custom  when  a  writer  dealt  with 
social  facts,  particularly  with  facts  relative  to  social 
pathology,  to  lay  the  blame  for  all  "social  maladjust- 
ments" upon  the  community;  this  with  a  grip  on  actual 
conditions  very  attenuated  at  best.  Today  modern 
sociology  seeks  to  treat  social  facts  quantitively  when 
ever  possible  and  above  all,  in  relation  to  the  whole 
social  system.  The  purpose  of  this  symposium  is  to 
fasten  on  a  concrete  phase  of  the  adjustment  which 
Americans  of  Italian  origin  make  to  our  community 
when  associated  with  other  Americans,  and  which  appear 
as  "gains,"  "losses,"  and  "contributions." 

With  this  end  in  view  considerable  care  was  spent  in 
drawing  up  lists  of  names  of  men  and  women  whose 
experience  has  been  of  a  character  to  justify  placing  con- 
fidence and  trust  in  their  replies.  Because  of  the 
extremely  varied  way  the  American  of  Italian  extraction 
touched  our  American  life,  it  was  obviously  necessary  to 
question  people  from  all  walks  of  life  to  get  a  fair  con- 
sensus of  views. 

The  writer  went  carefully  thru  the  membership  files 
of  the  American  Academy  of  Political  Science,  the 
American  Sociological  Society,  the  American  Economic 
Association,  and  other  representative  organizations  in 
order  to  secure  a  pick  of  only  those  individuals  from 
whom  an  answer  to  the  question  "What  does  the  Ameri- 
can of  Italian  extraction  contribute  to  American  demo- 
cracy?" would  be  valuable  and  could  be  considered  as  of 
sufficient  weight  to  have  any  confidence  imposed  therein. 

Likewise  in  seeking  replies  for  question  number  1, 
"What  does  the  American  of  Italian  extraction  gain," 
both  extremes,  the  "tenement"  type  and  "professional" 
types  of  Americans  of  Italian  extraction  were  asked  to 
give  their  views  because  of  the  desire  to  get  opinions 
that  were  not  one-sided.  It  was  not  at  all  unreasonable 
to  assume  that  to  each  of  these  types  of  American, 
democracy  might  mean  a  distinct  and  altogether  dif- 
ferent thing. 

The  greatest  difficulty  was  encountered  in  securing  the 
average  percentage  of  replies  to  question  number  2, 
"What  does  the  American  of  Italian  extraction  lose,  by 


TO  AMERICAN  DEMOCRACY  275 

his  contact  with  American  democracy?"  The  replies  to 
this  question  showed  a  marked  diversity  of  opinion 
regarding  whether  a  ''loss"  obtained  or  no.  Here  again 
only  those  individuals  were  asked  whose  opinions  would 
be  valuable  because  of  their  complete  saturation  with 
the  pure  Italian  culture. 

Not  one  of  the  least  valuable  elements  of  the  sympo- 
sium is,  therefore,  the  representative  character  of  the 
leaders  of  thought  who  have  contributed.  Not  only  are  all 
of  the  important  professions  represented  but  nearly 
every  section  of  the  country  besides.  The  symposium's 
results  are  results  that  attest  to  the  uniformity  of  opinion 
regarding  this  type  that  exists  thruout  the  country  as 
a  whole. 

In  getting  up  this  symposium  some  may  question  the 
wisdom  of  permitting  the  three  questions  to  be  placed 
in  one  questionnaire.  The  reason  for  this  feeling,  it 
may  be  urged,  is  that  it  tends  to  affect  the  nature  of  the 
reply  of  the  contributor  and  one  would  necessarily  have 
a  reaction  alloyed  by  the  influence  of  a  previous  antici- 
pation of  what  others  would  most  likely  answer  to  the 
other  two  questions.  On  the  contrary  the  writer  believes 
that  the  placing  of  the  three  questions  on  the  one  and 
same  questionnaire  gives  it  a  value  that  otherwise  would 
not  obtain,  namely  of  pointing  out  to  each  contributor 
the  entire  scheme  or  general  plan  of  this  study,  which  is 
to  evaluate  this  type  sociologically.  Therefore,  reahz- 
ing  this,  one  is  more  apt  to  confine  himself  to  the  specific 
question  to  which  he  is  replying  instead  of  making 
qualifications,  exceptions  and  other  remarks  that  must 
necessarilv  be  irrelevant  to  the  answer  and  consequently 
detract  from  its  value. 

Some  might  even  question  the  value  of  such  a  general 
question  as  "What  does  the  American  of  Italian  extrac- 
tion contribute  to  our  American  democracy?"  In  answer 
the  following  is  pertinent.  In  judging  a  people's  status 
by  civilizatory  stages  whether  mental,  cultural,  mate- 
rial, etc.,  one  must  take  into  consideration  the  relation 
of  such  peoples  to  the  entire  sociological  stratum  of 
the  particular  country  in  which  those  people  happen  at 
any  particular  moment  to  be  placed.    The  thesis  of  this 


nd  THE  ITALIAN  CONTRIBUTION 

dissertation  is  that  for  all  peoples  of  superior  cultures 
the  germinal  potentialities  are  uniformly  capable  of  a 
relatively  like  development.  It  would  be  ridiculous  to 
attempt  to  pin  down  a  contributor  to  a  specific  question 
like  ''What  mental  traits  does  the  American  of  Italian 
extraction  contribute  to  our  American  democracy  be- 
cause (1)  nine  out  of  ten  contributors  would  not  know 
and  (2)  it  would  not  help  us  in  furthering  the  end  aimed 
at  in  the  symposium.  We  are  trying  to  find  out  the 
relative  values  that  these  peoples  have  in  our  "social 
mixing."  With  the  gradual  passing  of  time,  and  with 
the  slow  and  laborious  accretion  of  those  particular 
racial  characteristics  that  we  know  the  Italian  race  has 
to  give  us,  the  American  people  of  to-morrow  will  be 
a  different  people.  It  is  of  no  moment  to  say  that  at  a 
certain  date  a  certain  per  cent  of  the  second  generation  of 
Americans  of  Italian  extraction  were  found  to  be  in  such 
and  such  positions  and  betrayed  a  certain  type  of  mind. 
It  is  absolutely  certain  that  the  Italian  strain,  as  has 
been  proved  true  of  the  earlier  German  and  Irish  strains, 
effects  contacts,  at  first,  that  are  not  permanent  but 
represent  a  temporary  adjustment  made  by  a  people 
essentially  in  "transition."  Rather  therefore  it  is  for 
us  to  ascertain  the  sociological  significance  of  the  Italian 
infiltration  in  our  midst  from  a  broad  general  perspec- 
tive, if  we  are  to  correctly  gauge  the  trend  and  newer 
impulse  that  these  people  give  to  us. 

Stated  in  a  word,  the  results  of  the  symposium  show 
that  the  chief  contribution  of  the  immigrant  Italians  are 
also  those  of  his  offspring  representing  the  second  gen- 
eration of  Americans.  The  qualities  of-  thrift  and  re- 
liability, dependability,  steadiness,  soberness  of  character, 
consistent  labor,  conscientious  application  to  the  daily 
tasks  of  life  however  simple,  frugality,  sobriety,  patience 
—  these  are  the  outstanding  contributions.  Little  if  at 
all  subordinate  to  these  are  the  qualities  of  joviality, 
lightsomeness  of  heart,  optimism,  cheeriness,  high  fra- 
ternalship,  sympathy,  warmth,  hospitality.  All  of  these 
are  equally  marked. 

It  is  the  Italian's  geniality  and  romantic  high-spirit- 
edness  that  brings  out  his  artistic   sensitiveness.     The 


TO  AMERICAN  DEMOCRACY  277 

traits  of  musical  appreciation,  of  sculpture,  of  the  plas- 
tic arts,  of  love  for  the  drama,  of  courtesy,  of  high- 
mindedness  —  these  are  all  parts  of  his  traditions.  His 
love  for  beauty,  his  thoughtfulness  when  not  operating 
under  too  severe  economic  pressure,  his  deferential 
demeanor  are  not  assumed  mannerisms.  They  are  in- 
stinctive though  they  "slough  off  in  an  American  envi- 
ronment." The  Italian  is  emotionally  rich.  This  is  his 
^r^flr psychical  contribution  to  American  democracy. 

No  one  has  yet  invented  any  way  of  measuring  this 
contribution.  Stated  in  a  phrase  one  may  call  it  "a 
high  ratio  of  variability."  It  makes  him  "artistic, 
dreamy,  and  full  of  ideals"  while  holding  him  down  to 
the  menial  tasks  of  everyday  living  with  a  patience  and 
docility  that  is  all  the  more  astounding  because  of  the 
incongruity. 

As  to  his  "LOSSES,"  they  are  his  good  manners, 
family  ties  and  at  the  beginning  a  reverence  for  race 
and  elders.  The  first  two  "losses"  are  peculiar  to  the 
Italian  home ;  the  last  is  a  condition  that  obtains  among 
all  first  generations  of  Americans. 

If  the  American  of  Italian  extraction  has  lost  good 
manners  he  has  been  given  by  us  in  exchange  a  sense  of 
individual  freedom,  a  feeling  of  independence,  which 
sometimes  may  need  a  bit  of  redirection ;  and  most  of  all 
he  has  acquired  a  desire  to  better  himself  and  together 
with  this  the  possibilities  for  its  realization.  Some 
"losses"  are  to  be  expected.  Everything  being  relative 
we  need  but  to  ask  which  in  a  scale  of  values  is  less 
important. 

Undoubtedly  to  the  younger  American  of  Italian  ex- 
traction the  biggest  thing  in  life  with  him  is  his  future. 
America  is  "par  excellence"  the  land  of  the  future.  So 
that  for  the  time  being  it  may  be  true  that  some  of  these 
Americans  of  Italian  blood  whom  we  see  growing  up  in 
our  larger  cities  are  certainly  not  Americans  in  the 
sense  that  we  think  of  the  ultimate  American;  nor  are 
thev  Italians  for  thev  scorn  and  are  scorned  by  the 
adult  Italian.     They  represent  a  type  in  transition. 

The  question  "What  does  the  American  of  Italian  ex- 
traction gain  through  his  contacts  here"  brought  many 


278  THE  ITALIAN  CONTRIBUTION 

interesting  and  perhaps  unexpected  replies.  Fully  fifty- 
two  per  cent  of  the  replies  stressed  the  element  of  the 
future,  and  the  opportunity  and  actual  possibility  of  see- 
ing materialize  within  their  own  lifetime  and  in  their 
own  specific  life  the  benefits  and  advantages  of  a  free 
America,  of  a  more  equal  distribution  of  this  world's 
goods,  of  better  living  conditions,  of  shorter  working 
hours,  etc.  All  of  this  carries  with  it,  best  of  all,  the  de- 
velopment of  a  spirit  of  appreciation  of  the  fact  that  one 
has  been  allowed  to  share  in  the  work  of  developing 
America;  that  what  he  gets  here  is  not  as  if  it  were  a 
bone  thrown  to  him,  but  a  right  which  is  a  recognition 
of  his  share  of  the  task  accomplished  and  his  absolute 
essentiality  to  the  full  and  proper  completion  of  said 
task.  Therefore  it  is  this  sense  of  self-independence,  of 
sturdy  self-reliance,  of  the  exhilarating  pleasure  of  the 
struggle  to  achieve  that  marks  the  great  gain  as  more 
than  fifty  per  cent  of  the  replies  for  this  type  of  American 
show. 

Looked  at  from  both  ends,  from  the  end  of  the  newer 
American  it  appears  from  the  symposium  that  America 
is  allowing  him  a  fair  and  just  means  in  the  way  of 
opportunity  to  develop  "a  maximum  number  of  socially 
acceptable  original  capacities  maximally,"  and  that  on 
the  other  hand  there  is  no  question  that  these  indivi- 
duals have  a  peculiar  contribution  to  make  to  America 
and  furthermore,  what  is  important,  they  are  making  it. 

It  is  all  too  unfortunate  that  this  "give  and  take"  pro- 
cess or  what  in  other  words  may  be  termed  the  "rate  of 
synthetization"  is  not  quantitatively  measurable.  But 
we  have  it  established  that  so  far  as  the  original  and 
native  capacity  of  this  type  is  concerned  this  proceeds 
on  a  par  with  that  of  other  people.  The  only  other 
factors  that  need  to  be  considered  and  which  in  this 
connection  may  operate  either  as  a  help  or  a  hindrance 
are  social,  not  racial,  and  concern  all  stocks,  so  we  do 
not  dwell  upon  them  here.  Besides  they  are  American. 
In  closing  this  section  we  would  do  well  to  quote  the 
observation  of  Miss  Lillian  Brandt  made  some  years 
ago  on  the  nature  of  the  adjustment  of  these  second 
generations  of  Americans  in  an  American  environment, 
viz: 


TO  AMERICAN  DEMOCRACY  279 

"Surely  an  unprejudiced  scrutiny  of  the  American 
type  does  not  establish  the  conviction  that  there  is 
nothing  further  to  be  desired.  There  are  points  at  which 
we  are  susceptible  of  improvement,  there  are  qualities 
of  which  we  have  only  a  faint  trace  for  whose  posses- 
sion we  should  be  justified  in  making  some  sacrifice. 
The  Italians  have  a  delight  in  simple  pleasures,  an 
appreciation  for  other  things  than  mere  financial  suc- 
cess, a  sense  of  beauty,  a  kindliness  and  social  grace 
which  would  not  be  wholly  unendurable  additions  to  our 
predominant  traits. "f 

TABLE   I 

REPLIES  RECEIVED  STATED  IN  PERCENTAGES 

Total  number  of  questionnaires  sent    1000 

Total  number  of  replies  received  397 

Per    Cent 39.7 

Number  of  replies  giving  "positive"  reaction 267 

Per    Cent 26.7 

Number  of  replies  giving  "negative"  reaction 29 

Per    Cent .029 

Number  of   replies   giving   "neutral"   reaction 30 

Per    Cent .03 

Number  of  replies  received  and  unclassified* .71 

Per    Cent   .71 

TABLE  II 
DISTRIBUTION   OF   REPLIES    ACCORDING  TO  DESCENT 
OF   CONTRIBUTOR 


o  g  ^c 

NATIONALITY              ||  c  ^ 

Total  number  of  questionaires  sent 333  333  334 

Total  number  of  replies  received 118  124  155 

Per   Cent 35.44  37.24  46.41 

Number  of  replies  giving  "positive"  reaction        114  49  104 

Per    Cent 34.24  14.71  31.14 

Number  of  replies  giving  "negative"  reaction     23  6 

Per  Cent 6.91  .02 

Number  of  replies  giving  "neutral"  reaction           1  29     

Per    Cent 03  8.71     

Number  of   replies   unclassified* 3  23  45 

Per    Cent 01  6.91  13.52 

t  Lillian  Brandt,  "A  Transplanted  Birthright  or  the  Second 


280 


THE  ITALIAN  CONTRIBUTION 


TABLE  III 

REPLIES    LISTED    ACCORDING    TO    RESIDENCE    OF 

CONTRIBUTOR 

Residence 

Ann  Harbor,  Mich 

Binghamton,  N.  Y 

Boston,    Mass , 

Boulder,  Col 

Cambridge,  Mass » 

Camp  Grant,  111 

Chicago,  111 

Elizabeth,  N.  J 

Intervale,  N.  H ^ 

Jersey  City,  N.  J 

Manuet,  N.  Y 

Middletown,   Conn 

Minneapolis,  Minn 

Newark,  N.  J ." 

New  Haven  ,Conn 

New  York  City,  N.  Y. 

Manhattan  

Bronx  „ 

Brooklyn 

Queens 

Richmond  

Mooseheart,  111 

Mt.  Vernon,  N.  Y 

Philadelphia,  Pa 

Plainfield,  N.  J Z'Z. 

Poughkeepsie,  N.  Y 

San  Francisco,  Cal 

St.  Louis,  Mis 

Trenton,  N.  J 

Troy,  N.  Y ;.";;;;;; 

Washington,  D.  C 

Yonkers,  N.  Y ".■.'."" 

Unclassified  

Total  


Qi 

uestions 

No.  1 

No.  2 

No.  3 

_ 

1 

1 

4 

5 

5 

— 

— 

1 
7 
1 
3 
3 
1 

1 
1 
1 
1 

1 

1 

3 

— 

2 

2 

2 

— 

1 

65 

43 

56 

8 

12 

16 

19 

^j 

3 

8 



2 

6 

1 
1 

1 

_ 

— 

1 

1 

— 

— 

2 

1 
1 
1 
2 
1 
8 

2 

— 

3 

— 

3 

3 

2 

3 

23 

45 

118 

124 

155 

Generationed   Italians    in   an   American   Environment  "     Chari- 
ties 1904. 

*  Unclassified— Returned  by  postman,  lack  of  sufficient  knowl- 
edge, absences  due  to  the  war,  Americans  of  French  extrac- 
tion, etc. 


TO  AMERICAN  DEMOCRACY 


281 


TABLE  IV 

REPLIES    LISTED    ACCORDING   TO   VOCATION    OR 

PROFESSIONS 

Questions 
No.  1    No.  2    No 

Actor   _^  ~ 

Anthropologist  ^ 

Artist  ,  _ 

Assemblyman  ^  

Author  ^ 

Banker    ~  J^ 

Borough  President  g 

Business  man  "  _2 

Capitalist    "T  - 

Clergyman   ^  i 

Clerk  .  5  _^ 

College  student ^/  ^ 

Commissioner  of  education ^  

Congressman    "Z  

Dentist  ^ 

Director,  School  of  Social  Economy — ;  —- 

Doctor   9  _6 

Draughtsman    J  _ 

Economist    ^  ^ 

Editor  "7  i 

Electrician  ^  _ 

Executive  Secretary  ^  _ 

Governor    

Head  worker  (settlement)  — 

Journalist  

Judge   -.  7 

Lawyer    ^J  

Librarian    _^  -, 

Manufacturer    

Mayor    ^  __ 

Mechanic  ^  

Municipal  employee  ^  ^ 

Musician  _^  . 

Painter .  

Pharmacist    ^ 

Principal  (school)  ^  _ 

Printer  '• ^  _ 

Professor  (economics)    J  _ 

"            (engineering)   ^ 

"  (government)  

(law)  -T  ^ 

"            (medicine)    * 

'i            (philosophy)   - 

"           (romance  language)  —  ^ 

"  (sociology) 


_  —  1 


—  1 


No.  1 

Liestions 
No.  2 

No.  3 

— 

2 

1 
3 

1 

6 

1 

"5 

2 
6 
6 

3 

1 

— 

2 

3 

3 
8 

3 

4 
1 

~1 

1 

1 

2 

1 

4 

12 

3 

118 

9 
23 
124 

4 

3 

45 

155 

282  THE  ITALIAN  CONTRIBUTION 


Poet    

Publicist   

Rabbi   

Retired  (business) 

Senator   

Social  worker  

Sociologist  

Soldier  

Specialist  in  education  

Statistician    

Steamship  agent 

Stenographer   

Stock  exchange  broker 

Superintendent  of  education 

Teacher  

Teamster    

University  president  

Y.  M.  C.  A.  Secretary  

Anonymous  

Unclassified    

Total  


TABLE  V 

"GAINS"  LISTED  ACCORDING  TO  FREQUENCY 

Number  of  Percentage 
Nature  of  "gain"  times  noted     of  total 

Freedom   (individual)    21  17.71 

Educational  opportunity  16  13.56 

Economic  and  industrial  opportunity 13  11.02 

General  gain  (all  round  development) 12  10.17 

Equality  with  other  races 9  7.62 

Self-reliance 6  5.09 

Higher  standard  of  living 4  3.39 

Spirit  of  co-operation 4  3.39 

Respect  for  justice 4  3.39 

Ambition 3  2.55 

Development   of    personality 2  1,69 

Breadth  of  vision 2  1.69 

Loss  of  religious  fetters 1  .18 

Loss  of  fear  of  government 1  .18 

Free  speech 1  .18 

Neutral    1  .18 

Unclassified    3  2.55 

Total   118  100.0 


TO  AMERICAN  DEMOCRACY  28^ 

TABLE  VI 
"LOSSES"  LISTED  ACCORDING  TO  FREQUENCY 

Number  of  Percentage 

Nature  of  Reply                                   times  noted  of  total 
POSITIVE* 
Loss  of  "love  for  race,  respect  for  elders, 

reverence    for    family" 17  13.6 

Loss  of  "Latin  idealism" 12  9.7 

Loss   of   "artistic"  inheritance 9  7.2 

Loss  of  "politeness,  good  manners,  senti- 
mental qualities" 6  4.9 

Loss  of  "respect  for  church" 5  4.0 

NEGATIVE** 

No  "loss"  whatever 23  18.5 

NEUTRALt 

"Loss"  offset  by  a  "gain" 29  23.4 

UNCLASSIFIED 

Returned  by  postman,  lack  of  sufficient 
knowledge,  absences  due  to  the  war, 

French  and  Spanish  citizens,  etc 23  18.5 

TOTAL  124  100.0 

TABLE  VII 
"CONTRIBUTIONS"  LISTED  ACCORDING  TO  FREQUENCY 

Number  of  Percentage 
Nature  of  "contribution"  times  noted    of  total 

Industriousness  and  thrift 28  18.07 

Love  of  beauty,  music,  aesthetic  apprecia- 
tion, art  sense 17  10.9 

Optimism,  cheerfulness,  buoyancy,  joy  of 

living,  enthusiasm    11  7.0 

Devotion   to   ideals 7  4.6 

Physical  labor  6  3.8 

Adaptability  5  3.2 

Love  for  liberty  5  3.2 

Courtesy,  politeness,  good  manners,  cul- 
ture and  refinement.... 4  2.6 

Devotion  to  democratic  ideals 4  2.6 

Devotion  to  family,  race,  and  elders 3  1.9 

Ambition    2  1.3 

Self-reliance,   self    dependence 2  1.3 

Sociability  1  -15 

Honesty   1  -1^ 

General   (all  round  contribution) 8  5.2 

Negative  replies  6  3.8 

Unclassified    45  29  6 

TOTAL    155  100.0 

*  Reply  classed  as  "positive"  if  a  "loss"  is  stated  to  exist. 

**  Reply  classed  as  "negative" — contributor  believes  no  loss 
exists. 

t  Reply  classed  as  "neutral" — contributor  states  a  "gfain"  to 
exist  as  well  as  a  "los§," 


284  THE  ITALIAN  CONTRIBUTION 

CHAPTER  XXVI 

SOME  POSITIVE  MEASURES  OF  REFORM 

HOW  TO  ECONOMICALLY  PRESERVE  THE  HIGH  PHY- 
SICAL   POWERS    OF    THE    RAW    IMMIGRANT    AND 
FACILITATE  THE  PROCESS  OF  SYNTHETIZATION 

ABOLITION  OF  "PADRONE"  SYSTEM— As  the 
symposium  in  an  earlier  chapter  showed,  one  of  the 
chief  sources  of  value  that  the  Italian  immigrant  has  for 
us  is  ''labor."  He  has  contributed  the  brawn  that  has 
made  possible  the  physical  upbuilding  of  this  nation  and 
the  creation  of  America's  physical  wealth. 

America  however  has  been  careless  of  this  gift.  The 
Italian  Consul  for  Western  Pennsylvania  reported  in  one 
year  over  500  deaths  due  to  industrial  accidents  and  as 
Dr.  Stella  has  shown,  the  loss  of  life  that  is  entirely  pre- 
ventable is  higher  among  these  people  than  among  any 
other  of  all  the  different  races  in  America. 

In  Italy  the  immigrant  never  experienced  such  a 
shocking  waste  of  his  offspring.  Himself  possessed  of  a 
robust  constitution  and  rugged  fund  of  health  he  passed 
on  to  his  progeny  substance  and  vitality  of  a  like  kind. 
The  social  system  however  that  permits  such  hygienic 
conditions  as  is  described  by  Dr.  Stella,  Dr.  Guilfoy  and 
others  makes  great  inroads  upon  this  native  fund  of 
health.  In  fact  the  very  font  itself  is  contaminated.  For 
it  is  true  that  in  this  country  conditions  not  very  long 
ago  permitted  labor  to  be  used  for  ten  hours  and  even 
more  a  day.*  Relative  to  this  Dr.  Stella  says,  'T  must 
make  mention  of  the  effects  of  the  extreme  severity  of 

*  Apart  from  the  item  of  occupational  diseases  incurred  thru 
the  slow  wearing  down  of  the  human  organism,  there  is  the 
important  question  of  industrial  accidents.  While  it  is  true 
in  America  today  fatalities  are  few,  only  2,337  out  of  280,308 
mishaps  resulting  in  loss  of  life,  nevertheless  as  W.  C.  Fisher 
points  out  in  his  review  of  existing  compensation  laws  in  the 
United  States.  .  .  .  "there  are  hundreds  of  thousands  injured,... 
which  causes  a  more  or  less  serious  impairment  of  productive 
power  and  earning  capacity."  (Vide  Quarterly  Journal  of  Eco- 
nomics, Vol.  30,  p.  53.) 


TO  AMERICAN  DEMOCRACY  285 

the  work  undergone  by  these  people  and  the  frequency 
with  which  minors  among  the  Italian  elements  of  this 
city  are  found  at  unusually  severe  work  which  in  many 
cases  helps  to  explain  the  physical  degeneration  and 
joined  with  other  factors  of  congestion  brings  on  a 
heightened  susceptibility  to  all  kinds  of  diseases." 

An  enlightened  labor  policy  reinforced  by  adequate 
modern  social  legislation  serving  to  ensure  to  thevSe 
people  and  their  descendants  the  fund  of  rugged  health 
and  vigorous  constitution  that  is  theirs  thru  generations 
of  birthright  will  also  in  the  long  run  rebound  to  Ameri- 
ca's good.  Thus  she  will  be  taking  care  of  these  faithful 
and  humble  workers  of  the  soil,  mill,  and  factory.  Be- 
sides America  will  be  providing  for  the  future  against  a 
paucity  of  labor  supply  so  vitally  necessary  for  main- 
taining the  degree  of  efficiency  and  present  high  pace  set 
by  modern  efficiency  methods. 

In  the  past  more  than  in  the  present  the  abominable 
"padrone"  evil  where  the  Italian  himself  was  permitted 
to  prey  upon  his  fellow  countryman  proved  perhaps  the 
greatest  source  of  mischief.  Padrones  today  are  not 
nearly  as  numerous  as  they  were  two  decades  ago.  The 
same  can  be  said  of  many  immigrant  bankers.  These 
latter  without  any  security  whatever  were  the  de- 
positories for  all  the  little  "savings"  that  thousands  of 
Italian  workers  had  slowly,  laboriously  and  painfully 
earned  and  sedulously  accumulated.  These  moneys  in 
many  cases  represented  all  that  stood  between  them  and 
starvation.  Roberts  says  that  there  were  1000  such 
banks  and  that  there  was  sent  to  Europe  thru  such 
bankers,  in  1908  alone,  the  year  when  the  actions  of  such 
individuals  were  investigated  by  a  state  appointed  com- 
mittee, the  sum  of  $275,000,000.  Besides  this  sum  these 
immigrant  bankers  themselves  retained  on  deposit 
$7,000,000  yearly.  The  New  York  Committee  on  Immi- 
gration found  that  1.5  per  cent  of  these  foreign  banks 
failed  and  that  their  liabilities  were  five  per  cent  of  the 
sums  handled.  Such  bankers  particularly  in  New  York 
City  did  a  thriving  business.  This  city  also  was  the 
scene  of  several  of  the  most  spectacular  failures  of  such 
banks;  namely  Cesare  Conti,  Cuneo,   Patti,  and  many 


286  THE  ITALIAN  CONTRIBUTION 

others.  These  individuals  had  thruout  a  long  period  of 
time  built  banks  of  apparently  complete  security.  The 
failures  involved  thousands  of  Italian  families  and  the 
sums  mounted  up  to  the  millions. 

REGULATION  AND  CONTROL  OF  UNEMPLOY- 
MENT— A  good  deal  of  the  physical  malconditions  found 
among  the  children  of  Italians  are  due  to  undernourish- 
ment and  mal-nutrition.  According  to  researches  made 
by  Dr.  Stella  it  would  seem  that  the  reasons  for  the  pre- 
valence of  rickets  among  the  children  in  Italian  homes 
are  the  environmental  conditions  such  as  overcrowding 
and  the  congestion  of  the  slums  plus  the  absence  of  a 
proper  diet.  Innumerable  investigations  conducted 
among  the  Italians  showed  that  Italians  do  not  eat 
enough  meat  as  compared  to  vegetables.  As  a  conse- 
quence, their  children  have  a  higher  percentage  of 
rickets,  a  disease  particularly  due  to  mal-nutrition,  than 
has  any  other  racial  stock  in  this  city.  But  this  physical 
condition  has  its  antecedents  rooted  in  an  economic  one. 
Even  as  late  as  1916  the  very  large  number  of  Italian 
families  in  New  York  City  that  were  thrown  near  the 
verge  of  starvation  by  changed  industrial  conditions  due 
to  a  change  of  administration  is  our  best  witness. 
When  the  Italian  peasant  first  arrives  his  portion  of 
cereal  is  three-quarters  as  large  as  England  gives  to  her 
paupers,  while  his  portion  of  meat  is  less  than  one-fifth. 
Work  that  is  intermittent  in  character  will  not  hasten 
the  day  when  this  menu  will  be  changed  and  more  meat 
eaten. 

Further  review  of  the  very  close  connection  between 
undernourishment  and  the  unemployment  problem  is 
unnecessary  here.  The  last  annual  conference  of  the 
American  Health  Association  held  in  Chicago  was  the 
occasion  for  a  host  of  the  leading  medical  men  of  this 
country  and  of  Canada  to  tell,  in  minute  detail,  of  the 
very  close  relation  between  unemployment  and  ill  health. 
Abundant  proof  was  given  by  the  speakers  at  this  con- 
ference to  the  fact  "that  mortality  is  in  direct  ratio  to 
the  wage  rate ;  that  the  disease-rate  increases  as  wages 
decrease  and  diminishes  as  the  pay  envelope  gets  fuller. 
Higher   wages    means    better   diet,   improved   business, 


TO  AMERICAN  DEMOCRACY  287 

better  medical  care,  prevention  of  disease,  a  more  robust 
physique  and  a  general  improvement  of  the  workers."* 
As  the  separate  investigations  conducted  among  isolated 
sections  of  the  Italian  quarters  showed,  the  average 
yearly  income  of  the  Italian  bread  winner  is  between 
$600  and  $1000.  Dr.  Royal  Meeker  who  conducted  the 
most  recent  investigation  regarding  the  cost  of  living 
and  retail  prices  of  all  necessities  in  communities  in 
many  parts  of  the  country,  says  that  the  results  of  his 
inquiry  "clearly  show  that  for  a  really  decent  standard 
of  living  for  a  family  of  five,  it  is  necessary  to  have  at 
least  $1,687  a  year  and  perhaps  not  less  than  $1,800."  In 
the  case  of  the  Italian  it  explains  in  part  why  the  newer 
generation  represents  a  more  devitalized  stock  than 
does  the  older  generation. 

It  is  necessary  for  Americans  to  face  this  problem  of 
unemployment  resolutely  and  fearlessly.  Before  the 
war  broke  out  conditions  had  become  so  bad  in  the  second 
year  of  tenure  of  the  last  administration  that  in  New  York 
City  the  specially  appointed  Mayor's  Work  Committee 
had  to  deliberately  create  work  in  the  Italian  quarters 
and  elsewhere  so  that  these  people  could  on  the  pretense 
of  doing  something  be  given  a  small  pittance  enabling 
them  to  eke  out  a  miserable  existence.  In  1916  just  such 
a  workshop  was  established  at  the  Italian  School  on 
Hester  and  Elizabeth  Streets.  This  school  is  the  greatest 
organized  center  for  welfare  work  among  Italians  down- 
town. The  workshop  temporarily  created  there  afforded 
work  for  over  four  hundred  such  families  and  fully  five 
thousand  garments  were  made  that  were  used  to  help 
make  easier  the  burden  of  the  poor.  Providing  steady 
and  regular  employment  will  obviate  many  difficulties. 

ELIMINATION  OF  DISEASE— Recent  experiences 
have  shown  us  how  weak  certain  vital  elements  in  our 
population  are.  The  recent  expansion  of  our  army  forced 
us  for  the  first  time  to  take  a  survey  of  the  physical 
condition  of  the  nation.  The  point  in  this  is  that  this 
was  a  decision  which  had  not  been  chosen  but  was  forced 
upon  us.    With  other  countries  this  "laisser  faire"  period 

*  Survey,  December  21,  1918,  p.  373-4. 


288  THE  ITALIAN  CONTRIBUTION 

has  already  been  passed.  Italy  today  has  more  advanced 
and  enlightened  laws  aiming  to  safeguard  the  health  of 
the  immigrant  than  any  nation.  Mrs.  Kate  Waller  Bar- 
rett who  was  appointed  a  special  agent  by  the  Depart- 
ment of  Labor  to  investigate  conditions  surrounding 
immigrant  women  on  steamships  says : 

"As  the  Italian  Government  has  taken  the  lead  among 
civilized  nations  in  its  legislation  to  protect  immigrants, 
I  was  especially  anxious  to  test  the  value  of  its  law. 
Every  ship  touching  an  Italian  port  carries  a  Royal  Com- 
missioner appointed  by  the  government.  The  Commis- 
sioner is  required  to  make  an  extended  inspection  of 
every  part  of  the  ship  twice  a  day  to  test  the  food 
furnished  and  to  examine  the  water  as  regards  quality 
and  quantity. 

"When  a  ship  reaches  the  Italian  port  the  Commis- 
sioner must  personally  see  that  the  quarters  and  all  the 
bedding  in  the  steerage  are  cleaned  and  fumigated.  If 
the  captain  does  not  cooperate  with  the  Commissioner 
on  touching  at  an  Italian  port  the  Commissioner  may 
order  the  captain's  arrest.  In  addition  to  the  foregoing, 
the  government  requires  a  strict  medical  examination  of 
any  person  desiring  to  purchase  a  steamship  ticket. 

"Immigrant  stations  are  maintained  by  the  Italian 
government  at  the  principal  ports  of  Italy  and  no  depart- 
ment of  the  government  is  better  supported  and  con- 
sidered of  more  importance. 

"I  found  that  the  laws  and  regulations  of  the  Italian 
government  are  rigidly  and  intelligently  enforced  and 
that  the  welfare  and  interest  of  immigrants  is  materially 
augmented  by  the  presence  of  a  Commissioner  on  a 
ship."* 

But  the  minute  he  lands  here  this  solicitude  relaxes 
upon  the  part  of  the  keepers  of  his  new  home.  These 
people  crowd  into  the  lower  part  of  Manhattan  Island 
which  is  congested  with  commerce  and  residences ;  in 
addition  there  are  in  the  county  as  a  whole  and  in  a 
large  proportion  in  this  congested  part  seventy-six  per 
cent   of   the   manufacturing  population   of   the   city,   or 

*  Repor*  of  Mrs.  Kate  Waller  Barrett — Appendix  Annual 
Report  of   the   Commissioner   General  of   Immigration,   1914. 


TO  AMERICAN  DEMOCRACY  289 

forty-one  per  cent  of  such  for  the  state.     Congestion 
of  this  sort  is  a  great  underminer  of  health. 

One  of  the  blessings  of  the  war  was  the  easing  of  the 
pressure  of  population  in  the  slum  districts  by  reason 
of  the  wholesale  inductions  of  the  youth  of  the  nation 
in  the  military  drafts.  This  was  true  not  only  in  big  cen- 
ters like  New  York,  Chicago,  and  Boston  in  this  country 
but  elsewhere  on  the  continent  in  Paris,  Liverpool,  etc. 
"It  is  said  that  the  slums  of  London  have  disappeared; 
that  in  the  incessant  appeal  for  labor,  enlistments,  and 
conscription,  the  idlers  and  even  the  vicious  have  been 
swept  into  useful  employment.  The  conclusion  is  in- 
evitable that  if  the  same  energy  and  spirit  can  be  con- 
tinued after  peace  is  restored  and  developed  into  con- 
struction and  production,  the  entire  level  of  living  con- 
ditions will  be  raised  above  that  of  the  past."* 

The  military  drafts  upon  the  manhood  of  the  nation 
have  given  us  a  chance  to  catch  our  breath  and  for  a 
moment  we  were  beginning  to  learn  how  to  live.  With 
rations  pared  of  all  superficialities,  a  minimum  of  lux- 
uries and  non-essentials,  assiduous  cultivation  of  the 
virtues  of  thrift,  abstention,  and  frugal  but  wholesome 
rre  unconsciously  laying  the  foundation  for 
and  simpler  life  which  if  continued  would  have 
,^JL  away  for  all  time  many  of  the  most  glaring  mon- 
strosities of  city  life  such  as  gangsters,  corrupt  ward 
politicians,  etc.  In  taking  the  American  of  the  slums 
away  from  his  perverting  environment  whether  he  be  of 
Italian,  Jewish,  Polish  or  Irish  parentage  and  putting 
him  in  contact  with  our  splendid  Americans  from  the 
middle  west,  far  west  and  the  Pacific  coast  —  we  gave 
him  a  chance  to  see  what  it  really  means  to  live — and 
what  is  more  important,  how  to  live.  It  is  no  exaggera- 
tion to  say  that  a  year  in  our  military  cantonments,  for 
many  of  the  Americans  of  Italian  stock  at  any  rate, 
was  something  in  the  nature  of  a  year  at  a  large  cosmo- 
politan university. 

It  is  such  a  change  as  this  —  the  mingling  with  Amer- 

*  Economic   Conditions,   Government   Finance    etc.,   National 
City  Bank  — July-1918. 


290  THE  ITALIAN  CONTRIBUTION 

icans  of  the  middle  West  and  other  parts  of  the  country 
that  Dr.  Jones  thinks  is  the  line  of  greatest  development 
for  the  American  of  Italian  extraction.  He  believes  that 
*'the  greatest  gain  of  the  Italian  thru  contact  with  the 
American  type,  if  he  is  fortunate  to  meet  a  sufficient 
number  of  Americans  of  the  old  New  England  or  the 
present  Middle  West  type,  is  the  curbing  of  a  tendency 
to  impulsive  thought  and  action  and  the  increase  of  de- 
liberation as  a  habit  of  muscle  and  mind."**  On  the 
other  hand  Prof.  Benjamin  M.  Anderson,  Jr.,  of  Har- 
vard, looking  at  this  social  mixing  from  its  opposite  as- 
pect, thinks  that  the  Italian's  joyous  attitude  toward 
life  and  spontaneity  in  living  is  a  genial  corrective  of  the 
rigors  of  the  Puritan  tradition  contributed  by  New  Eng- 
land. Essentially,  then,  the  contact  is  a  "give"  and  a 
"take"  between  the  two  peoples. 

We  are  beginning  to  realize  that  the  newer  immigra- 
tion has  something  of  distinct  value  to  add  to  our  Ameri- 
can democracy.  In  the  past  much  of  the  precious  immi- 
grant heritage  has  been  wasted.  America  has  been  a 
profligate.  Systematic  measures  aiming  to  disseminate 
information  relative  to  prevention  of  disease  and  vice  on 
a  broad  scale  are  as  yet  but  in  their  infancy.  We  need 
a  national  health  survey.  It  would  repay  us  to  make  an 
assay  of  the  entire  physical  condition  of  our  peoples  to 
know  exactly  what  racial  predispositions  toward  certain 
diseases  exist;  also  what  relative  immunities  obtain. 

RECREATION  —  One  of  the  mal-social  conditions 
that  in  the  past  and  even  today  makes  great  inroads 
upon  the  raw  physical  potentialities  of  our  Italian  stock 
is  the  prevalence  of  resorts  of  "commercialized"  vice. 
This  is  the  canker  that  needs  cutting  at  the  very  core  if 
a  permanent  cure  is  to  be  effected.  This  condition  ought 
to  be  faced  resolutely  and  without  flinching.  Too  often 
when  the  Americanized  Italian  meets  this  form  of  social 
degeneracy  he  looks  upon  it  as  a  truly  American  insti- 
tution. 

The   educator   has   taught   us   that   many   of   our   in- 

**  Comment  volunteered  in  answer  to  question  1,  see  ques- 
tionaire,  p.  238. 


TO  AMERICAN  DEMOCRACY  291 

stincts  need  to  be  redirected  and  healthy  social  aims  sub- 
stituted, if  we  would  not  be  hurried  into  moral  and 
physical  decadence.  It  is  not  enough  to  tell  the  Ameri- 
can of  Italian  extraction  that  resorts  of  commercial- 
ized vice,  gambling  dives,  etc.,  are  socially  bad  and  un- 
American.  An  agency  for  positive  good  must  be  sub- 
stituted. More  playgrounds  and  wider  recreational  fac- 
ilities are  the  means  that  are  to  transform  this  type  of 
individual  into  a  healthy  American  citizen  with  a  whole- 
some body  and  wholesome  mind.  Action,  plenty  of  it, 
for  this  vivacious  people  is  necessary.  Nor  is  it  enough 
to  give  them  these  facilities  and  trust  them  to  work  out 
their  salvation.  Adequate,  intelHgent  and  sympathetic 
leadership  is  another  prime  essential.  Greater  use  must 
be  made  of  the  people  themselves  in  order  to  have  them 
fully  enter  into  this  matter  of  conserving  their  man- 
hood- Sartorio  suggests  that  "there  should  be  in  the 
large  foreign  colonies  organized  lectures,  distribution  of 
information,  both  in  Italian  and  in  English  to  explain 
and  instruct  in  regard  to  American  industry,  laws,  insti- 
tutions and  morals."* 

Concrete  suggestions  that  as  yet  remain  to  be  worked 
out  in  proper  relation  to  the  particular  health  needs  and 
economic  status  of  these  people  are,  the  limitation  of  the 
working  day,  a  minimum  wage,  prohibition  of  night- 
work,  of  tenement  work  for  children  and  for  women, 
the  removal  of  the  slum  colonies,  the  erection  of  cheap 
homes  in  the  suburbs,  city  planning  with  the  segregation 
of  factories,  the  founding  of  suburban  industrial  centers, 
etc.  All  these  point  out  what  lies  in  the  future  and  pre- 
sent problems,  the  successful  working  out  of  which  re- 
quire considerable  time. 

SOCIALLY  PREPARE  FOR  A  MORE  FRICTIONLESS 
MIXING 

DIFFERENT  ATTITUDE  OF  MIND  — Today,  as  in 
the  past,  how  to  prepare  for  a  more  "frictionless  mix- 

*  Sartorio,  Henry  C.  —  "Social  and  Religious  Life  of  Italians 
in  America"  p  64. 


292  THE  ITALIAN  CONTRIBUTION 

ing"  is  pretty  much  of  a  "hit  and  miss"  or  "trial  and  er- 
ror" plan.  When  his  due  was  not  forthcoming  it  was 
assumed  either  that  the  American  of  Italian  extraction 
was  getting  his  deserts  and  was  satisfied  or  that  he  was 
not  prepared  and  did  not  complain.  A  permanent  cure 
for  this  means  getting  at  the  heart  of  the  trouble.  The 
fundamental  attitude  of  some  people  must  be  changed; 
discrimination  based  upon  differences  of  race  should 
cease ;  greater  sympathy  can  come  only  with  greater  un- 
derstanding. Woods  speaks  of  this  need  very  eflfect- 
ively,  viz : 

"One  of  the  most  serious  obstacles  that  confronts  the 
ambitious  youth  from  the  North  and  West  end  takes  the 
form  of  certain  racial  disHkes  felt  by  men  of  power  in 
the  city's  business  affairs  .  .  .  the  Italians  cannot  be 
kept  from  entering  a  very  wide  range  of  occupations  but 
their  rise  in  their  callings  is  often  hindered  by  that  cau- 
tion on  the  part  of  employers  which  is  akin  to  prejudice 
.  .  .  the  waste  of  ability  and  genius  is  coming  to  be 
recognized  as  a  dangerous  form,  a  public  profligacy."* 

Much  of  the  past  difficulty  has  been  due  to  the  fact 
that  the  Italian  is  cut  off  from  any  contact  with  the  truly 
American  element,  but  is  ruled  and  governed,  as  Villari 
says,  by  a  "horde  of  adventurers  and  camorristi  who 
maintain  the  municipal  distinctions  and  diversions,  fac- 
tions and  superstitions  of  his  native  village." 

We  take  time  to  quote  one  instance  of  the  way  this 
wrong  attitude  of  mind  operates  to  make  for  misunder- 
standing. At  Barre,  Vermont,  are  a  group  of  very  intel- 
ligent and  educated  Italian  speaking  workingmen.  Man- 
gano  says  they  speak  and  write  French,  German  and 
Italian,  have  studied  in  the  universities  and  technical 
schools  to  acquire  their  skill  in  design  and  execution  and 
have  much  more  learning  than  the  average  citizen  of 
Barre.  They  could  be  made  very  helpful  members  of 
the  community  if  the  Americans  and  the  Italians  could 
only  learn  to  understand  one  another.  In  fact  it  was 
the  Italian  element  which  made  the  first  move  to  help 
themselves.  They  subscribed  money  enough  to  employ 
a  teacher  of  drawing  and  designing  for  their  children. 

*  Woods,  Robert  A.  —  "Americans  in  Process"  p  Z7^. 


TO  AMERICAN  DEMOCRACY  293 

But  the  Americans  abandoned  one  section  of  the  town 
to  them  and  would  have  nothing  to  do  with  them.  Man- 
gano  says  that  the  Italian-speaking  population  resent 
the  hostile  attitude  of  these  older  Americans  and  so  the 
split  continues. 

EDUCATION  —  Some  who  have  argued  the  merits  of 
these  Americans  have  based  their  conclusions  upon  a 
hasty  acceptance  of  the  position  of  this  class  in  our  pub- 
lic schools  and  upon  the  nature  of  the  adjustment  that 
these  children  of  Italian  parentage  effect  in  our  system 
of  public  education.  The  fallacy  here  consists  in  assum- 
ing that  the  system  is  absolutely  correct  and  unequivo- 
cal subservience  to  the  system  not  only  is  desired  but 
actually  demanded. 

In  effect  this  is  to  have  the  children  existing  for  the 
school  and  not  the  school  for  the  children.  Some  people 
overlook  the  fact  that  school  systems  today  exist  largely 
for  the  abstract  type  of  mind  a  type  of  mind  that  is  fre- 
quently met  with  in  the  Americans  of  Jewish  extraction. 
As  Ayres  has  so  well  said,  "in  considering  the  different 
types  of  education  to  be  given,  the  question  of  hoW  to 
handle  a  Dutch  immigrant  child  is  very  different  from 
that  of  how  to  treat  an  Italian."*  The  fact  is  overlooked 
that  not  infrequently  the  American  of  Italian  extraction 
if  he  is  not  of  that  artistic  type  of  mind  which,  when 
subjected  to  the  inflexible  regimen  and  circumscribing 
character  of  present  academic  procedure,  works  itself  all 
awry  and  never  does  itself  justice  —  he  is  just  as  apt  to 
be  of  that  industrially  minded  turn  which  likes  to  tinker 
about  machines,  lathes  and  work-benches. 

There  is  no  attempt  here  at  a  reflective  judgment  with 
regard  to  the  relative  values  of  the  abstract,  artistic,  and 
industrially  minded.  This  simply  portrays  a  condition 
and  describes  a  fact,  instancing  concretely  how  planes 
of  universal-human-potentiality  are  cut  across  and  are 
dissected  by  lines  of  racial  characteristics  and  individual 
differences. 

If  as  the  educational  psychologist  assures  us,  the  chief 
problem  in  our  democracy  is  the  preservation  of  the  in- 

*  Ayres,  Leonard  P. —  "Laggards  in  Our  City  Schools"  p  106. 


294  THE  ITALIAN  CONTRIBUTION 

dividual  variant  in  adjustment  to  organized  effort,  to  the 
effect  that  it  might  protect,  perfect,  and  perpetuate  it- 
self, and  if  to  American  publicists,  in  considering  the 
matter  of  a  people's  assimilation  and  synthetization,  the 
public  school  is  the  foundation  stone  in  this  whole  pro- 
cess —  in  our  big  school  systems  in  large  cities  where 
alone  the  second-generation  of  our  immigrant  classes  is 
numerous  enough  to  constitute  a  distinct  unit  and 
therefore  a  problem  —  we  get  some  idea  of  how  inaptly 
the  whole  thing  is  working  out. 

We  have  the  child  of  the  immigrant,  regardless  of 
past  inheritance,  literally  poured  into  an  academic  mould 
which  effectively  levels  out  the  individual  variant  and 
leaves  its  stamp  of  uniformity.  So  mechanical  is  the 
process  and  so  unyielding  that  in  time  we  can  hope  for 
that  most  deadening  and  most  stultifying  of  all  uni- 
formity —  mediocrity.  It  is  true  that  heredity  and  en- 
vironment set  the  limits  within  which  it  is  possible  to 
progress  but  as  equally  true  is  it  that  the  opportunity 
for  variation  within  such  limits  is  enormous.  The  indi- 
vidual variant  must  be  kept  free  and  allowed  to  expand 
and  become  "individuated,"  to  use  a  sociological  term. 

Considering  the  ''high-variability"  of  the  Italian  na- 
ture, how  much  greater  is  the  loss  to  this  group,  which 
inevitably  results  from  this  "cribbing,  confining,  and 
cabinning"  process  of  our  regimenal-mould  schools ;  and 
how  disastrous  to  the  growing  and  plastic  nature  of  any 
child ! 

In  speaking  of  the  waste  of  talent  that  this  system 
entails  with  respect  to  the  Italian,  Miss  Brandt  says  "the 
chief  responsibility  for  the  waste  of  this  aptitude  of  ar- 
tistic handicraft  possessed  by  the  Italians  rests  not  with 
the  parent's  avarice  nor  on  race  prejudice  but  in  Ameri- 
can educational  systems  and  our  own  failure  to  appre- 
ciate what  we  are  throwing  away.  We  must  first  of  all, 
if  we  are  to  accept  and  use  to  our  own  advantage  the 
gifts  which  the  Italian  brings,  educate  ourselves  into  an 
appreciation  of  those  gifts."*     In  suggesting  a  remedy 

♦Brandt,  Lillian  —  "A  Transplanted  Birthright  or  the  Sec- 
ond-generationed  Italians  in  an  American  Environment."  Char- 
ities 1904.    Vol.  12,  p  499. 


TO  AMERICAN  DEMOCRACY  295 

Woods  says  "the  new  generation  is  in  many  cases  hin- 
dered by  the  ignorant  superstitions  of  the  elders.  One 
way  of  breaking  the  unfortunate  tradition  of  illiteracy 
which  exists  particularly  among  the  recent  Italians  and 
which  leads  them  to  put  their  children  to  work  as  soon 
as  possible  would  be  to  provide  in  the  public  schools 
greatly  increased  opportunities  for  manual  and  technical 
training  along  with  book  work.  The  tendency  of  par- 
ents to  take  their  children  away  from  the  schools  is  in 
part  a  just  judgment  upon  the  narrow  and  abstract  char- 
acter of  the  school  curriculum."  Jane  Addams  depre- 
cates severely  this  same  attitude  saying 

"many  people  .  .  .  have  become  impatient  with  the 
slow  recognition  on  the  part  of  educators  of  their  mani- 
fest obligation  to  prepare  and  nourish  the  child  and  the 
citizen  for  social  relations.  The  democratic  ideal  de- 
mands of  the  school  that  it  shall  give  the  child's  own 
experience  a  social  value;  that  it  shall  teach  him  to  direct 
his  own  activities  and  adjust  them  to  other  people. 
"We  are  impatient  with  the  schools  which  lay  all  stress 
on  reading  and  writing  suspecting  them  to  rest  on  the 
assumption  that  the  ordinary  experiences  of  life  are 
worth  little  and  that  all  knowledge  and  interest  must  be 
brought  to  the  child  through  the  medium  of  books.  This 
may  be  best  illustrated  by  observations  made  in  a  large 
Italian  colony  situated  in  Chicago,  the  children  of  which 
are  for  the  most  part  sent  to  the  public  schools. 
"The  members  of  the  Italian  colony  are  largely  from 
South  Italy-  Calabrian,  SiciHan  peasants  or  Neapolitans 
from  the  workingmens'  quarters  of  that  city  .... 
Their  experiences  have  been  those  of  simple  out-door 
activity  and  their  ideas  have  come  directly  to  them  from 
their  struggle  with  nature.  The  women  have  had  more 
diversified  activities  than  the  men.  They  have  cooked, 
spun,  and  knitted  in  addition  to  their  almost  equal  work 
in  the  fields.  They  are  devoted  to  their  children,  strong 
in  their  family  feeling,  and  clannish  in  their  community 
work. 

"The  child  of  such  a  family  receives  constant  stimulus 
of  a  most  exciting  sort  from  his  city  street  life  but  he 
has  little  or  no  opportunity  to  use  his  energies  construc- 
tively in  any  direction.  No  activity  is  supplied  to  take 
the  place  of  that  which  in  Italy  he  would  naturally  have 
found  in  his  own  surroundings  and  no  new  union  with 
wholesome  American  life  is  made  for  him. 
"Italian  parents  count  upon  the  fact  that  their  children 
learn   the   English   language   and   American   customs   be- 


2%  THE  ITALIAN  CONTRIBUTION 

fore  they  do  themselves  and  the  children  \.o  act  as  in- 
terpreters .  .  .  resulting  in  a  certain  almost  pathetic 
dependence  of  the  family  upon  the  child.  When  an  Ital- 
ian child  first  goes  to  school  the  event  is  fraught  with 
much  significance  for  all  the  others. 

"Yet  the  first  thing  that  the  boy  must  do  when  he  reaches 
school  is  to  sit  still  and  he  must  learn  to  listen  to  all 
that  is  said  to  him  .  .  .  He  does  not  find  this  very 
stimulating  and  is  slow  to  respond  to  the  more  subtle 
incentives  of  the  school-room.  The  Italian  peasant 
child  is  perfectly  indifferent  to  showing  off  and  making 
a  good  recitation.  He  leaves  all  that  to  his  schoolfel- 
lows who  are  more  sophisticated  and  equipped  with  bet- 
ter English.  His  parents  are  not  deeply  interested  in 
keeping  him  in  school. 

"It  is  much  easier  to  go  over  the  old  paths  of  education 
with    "manual    training"    thrown    in,    as    it    were.      It    is 
much  simpler  to  appeal  to  the  old  ambitions  of  "getting 
on    in    life"    or   of    "preparing    for    a    profession"     .     .     . 
than    to    work    out    new    methods    on    democratic    lines. 
There   is   a   pitiful   failure   to  recognize  the   situation   in 
which  the  majority  of  working  people  are  placed,"* 
Miss  Addams  believes  that  the  Italian  has  "affections 
and    memories"    that    we    leave    untouched    and    v^hich 
would  afford  a  source  of  tremendous  dynamic  power  if 
utilized.     She  would  have  us  stress  more  the  real  ex- 
periences thru  which  these  people  daily  pass  in  their  go- 
ing about  and  executing  the  common  things  of  life.   Miss 
Scudder's   observations   point   to   the    same    conclusions 
namely  that  (1)  an  effort  to  broaden  experience  should 
be  made  so  that  appreciation  may  become  more  general 
for  the  Italian  child,  and  (2)  a  better  correlation  of  stud- 
ies should  be  effected  in  matters  more  directly  suited  to 
his  practical  needs.** 

When  to  such  peoples  in  general,  and  to  the  Ameri- 
can of  Italian  extraction  in  particular,  is  extended  the 
option  of  continuing  in  school  —  they  are  almost  unan- 
imous in  their  negations  with  respect  to  further  formal 
study.  Dr.  Van  Denburg  who  found  such  a  condition 
to  be  true  explained  this  to  be  the  reason  why  so  many 
students  of  Italian  origin,  are  early  eliminated  in  the 
High  Schools  of  New  York  City. 

♦Addams,  Jane  —  Democracy  and  Social  Ethics,  p  178  seq. 
**  Scudder  —  Suggestions    on     Methods    of    Work    and    the 
Course  of  Study  for  the  Italian  Child. 


TO  AMERICAN  DEMOCRACY  297 

Add  the  fact  that  there  is  lacking  to  that  element  that 
comes  to  us  from  Italy,  any  culture  tradition  or  gener- 
ation of  educated  minds  and  one  has  all  the  itenis  for 
working  out  a  statistical  coefficient  for  this  condition  of 
early  elimination  and  retardation  of  Italian  students. 

The  attempt  to  get  at  and  remedy  the  present  imper- 
fect state  of  educational  affairs  is  of  recent  origin.  Gary 
plans,  industrial,  vocational,  and  pre-vocational  schools, 
play  and  study  schools,  the  new  Junior  high-school 
movement  all  are  a  direct  play  for  the  more  adequate 
recognition  and  organized  catering  to  individual  differ- 
ences. 

A  new  note  in  modern  educational  administration  is 
sounded  by  Dr.  Kandel  when  he  points  out  the  fact  that 
the  United  States  alone  is  the  only  power  of  importance 
that  lacks  an  authoritative  ministry  of  education.  "A 
strong  centralized  agency  charged  with  coordinating  and 
establishing  standards  for  different  types  of  minds  in  the 
various  communities  is  lacking  If  some  such  aid  were 
to  be  given  to  the  detached  local  administrative  units  af- 
fording them  the  advantage  of  a  perspective  that  other- 
wise is  unobtainable  because  of  their  proximity  to  an 
intense  and  what  is  apt  to  be  a  narrow  field,  this  matter 
of  having  socialized  and  industrialized  education  looms 
up  as  a  possible  reality.* 

"Socialized  education"  following  from  the  above  will 
do  mbre  than  any  other  one  thing  towards  "sloughing 
off"  class  lines  and  make  a  saner  and  more  balanced  at- 
titude between  social  classes  possible.  And  in  the  wake 
of  this  kind  of  a  reawakening  alone,  can  and  will  fol- 
low that  other  great  desideratum  —  the  passing  away  of 
the  slums  and  the  problem  of  congestion  with  its  train 
of  consequent  evils.     The  remedy  is  slow  to  catch  up 

*  Kandel,  I.  L.,  New  Republic  — June  29,  1918  (Since  this 
writing  a  bill  has  been  introduced  into  the  Senate  and  the 
House  creating  a  Department  of  Education  with  a  Secretary 
of  Education  and  appropriating  money  for  educational  work 
in  cooperation  with  the  States.  This  bill  has  the  support  of 
the  National  Educational  Association  and  the  American  Fed- 
eration of  Labor.  The  bill  authorizes  an  appropriation  of 
$100,000,000.    See  Popular  Scientific  Monthly,  March  1919,  p  286. 


298  THE  ITALIAN  CONTRIBUTION 

with  the  evil.  Parks,  recreational  systems,  playgrounds, 
settlements  are  all  too  pitifully  inadequate  when  com- 
pared to  the  needs  of  the  situation.  This  type  of  Ameri- 
can of  Italian  extraction,  Jewish-American,  Irish-Anier- 
ican,  Bohemian-American,  etc.,  will  suffer  a  long  time 
yet  to  come. 

POLITICALLY  DISTRIBUTE  A  GREATER  SHARE 
OF  EXECUTIVE  LEADERSHIP  TO  SUCH  OF  THOSE 
AS  ARE  FIT.  Finally  there  is  the  problem  of  redistri- 
buting with  an  eye  to  greater  effectiveness  the  political 
privileges  with  administrative  and  legislative  powers  in- 
to the  hands  of  those  who  are  fit.  They  in  turn  could 
then  be  allowed  to  use  such  power  to  quicken,  deepen, 
and  intensify  their  class's  Americanism,  civic  loyalty, 
and  community  appreciation. 

The  immigrant  Italian  is  apt  to  view  with  suspicion 
any  first  hand  attempt  of  one  whose  name  is  Jones  or 
Smith  to  approach  him  on  political  and  civic  matters. 
When  he  came  here  he  was  told  that  he  was  coming  to 
a  free  country;  where  even  the  newsboy  had  a  chance 
to  become  President  and  laborers  become  millionaires ; 
that  voting  was  a  matter  of  personal  conscience ;  that  a 
minimization  of  control  or  check  on  personal  liberty  ob- 
tained and  that  democracy  (whatever  that  may  have 
meant  to  him)  was  the  order  of  the  day.  Instead  he  came 
here  and  had  his  chances  for  the  Presidency  speedily  dis- 
sipated; his  ideas  regarding  a  free  country  quickly  dis- 
pelled ;  gold  was  hard  to  get  and  did  not  line  the  street 
pavements ;  voting  he  found  to  be  one  of  the  farthest 
things  yet  removed  from  the  individual's  conscience ; 
machines  ruled,  bosses  dictated,  corruption  flourished, 
justice  did  and  did  not  work  —  leaving  him  more  con- 
fused than  ever  —  and  that  the  government  here  ap- 
peared to  be  more  restrictive  than  in  his  "homeland." 

As  Sartorio  says  "the  statement  of  an  Italian  carries 
more  weight  than  that  of  ten  Americans  put  together 
for  obvious  reasons."* 

It  requires  an  American  of  his  own  race  to  set  him 

*  Sartorio,  Henry  C,  Social  and  Religious  Life  of  Italians  in 
America  p  43. 


TO  AMERICAN  DEMOCRACY  299 

right  and  show  him  how  to  pick  the  wheat  from  the 
chaff;  how  not  to  discard  the  whole  because  of  a  part 
either  being  bad  or  not  as  represented.  Many  Ameri- 
cans of  Italian  extraction  by  their  readings  and  discus- 
sions on  political  topics  show  a  healthy  orientation 
to  our  American  society  that  means  much  for  America. 
They  point  the  way  for  all  Americans  of  all  extractions 
to  follow.  Such  individuals  are  absolutely  invaluable 
in  helping  to  make  an  adjustment  between  the  older 
generations  and  their  communities.  They  are  an  indis- 
pensible  link  in  a  long  chain  of  links,  tied  to  a  policy  the 
fruition  of  which  means  the  development  of  a  true  Amer- 
icanism. Sartorio  suggests  that  "at  a  slight  expense 
young  Italian-Americans  could,  in  a  short  time,  be 
trained  in  American  schools  to  be  excellent  and  trained 
workers  among  their  own  people." 

To  such  as  these,  growing  up  and  demonstrating  their 
fitness  as  vehicles  or  channels  along  which  the  spirit  of 
American  democracy  may  be  transferred  greater  recog- 
nition and  power  should  be  given.  Instead,  not  uncom- 
monly both  political  and  social  preferment  is  denied,  and 
the  only  reason,  very  often,  is  that  such  person's  name 
ends  with  a  vowel. 

Instead  of  sending  these  "prepared"  individuals  out  as 
propagandists  among  the  masses  of  their  own  people; 
instead  of  attempting  to  create  and  cement  a  national 
solidarity  and  "esprit  de  corps"  thru  systematic  civic 
and  citizenship  training  groups  and  classes  in  extension 
and  night-school  centers — there  is  an  untrue  American- 
ism rampant  that  counts  the  social  and  political  adher- 
ence of  this  class  secure  if  individuals  within  its  ranks 
are  willing  to  accept  two  dollars  for  a  vote  once  a  year. 
Frequently  community  spirit  instead  of  being  broad  and 
national  is  sectional  and  crabbed  thru  the  ingrowing 
character  of  some  institutions  so  abnormal  as  to  be  be- 
yond the  pale  of  truly  American  stimuli. 

The  Italian  of  his  own  accord  rarely  gets  the  hang  of 
the  whole  thing.  The  American  of  Italian  extraction 
breaks  with  this  and  gets  away,  but  for  the  tenement 
type  often  the  get-away  is  very  much  in  the  nature  of 


30a  THE  ITALIAN  CONTRIBUTION 

an  escape  from  the  frying  pan  into  the  fire.  He  may  be 
free  but  he  is  apt  to  be  directionless  and  consequently 
erratic.  Freedom  from  tradition  and  custom  means  also 
exposure  to  perversions. 

Consequently  instead  of  experiencing  loyalty  to  the 
community  which  gives  him  birth  this  individual  is  all 
too  ready  to  blot  it  out  of  existence.  But  should  Arner- 
ica  clothe  him  v^ith  the  real  possibility  and  responsibility 
of  remaking  the  old,  in  the  added  light  gained  from  his 
experience,  he  v^^ould  undertake  and  put  thru  the  task 
in  and  v^ith  pretty  much  the  same  spirit  as  did  Hercules 
in  his  fabulously  reported  cleansing  of  the  Augean 
stables,  and  v^ith  the  same  ultimate  thoroughness  in  re- 
sult that  we  suspect  in  the  above. 

America's  hope,  if  not  her  only  hope,  in  the  quickest 
reclamation  of  the  large  immigrant  colonies  of  her  land 
to-day,  consists  in  grappling  to  her  soul  and  interest  the 
offspring  of  these  peoples  and  using  them  as  tools  for 
the  accomplishments  of  her  ends.  And  to  these  peoples 
the  task  will  be  as  much  one  of  pleasure  as  an  obliga- 
tion— for,  it  having  been  given  to  them  to  see  light,  they 
will  not  be  found  lacking  in  that  spirit  which  seeks  to 
disseminate  light. 

If  Democracy  means  anything  it  means  "growth." 
Such  "growth"  is  imperfect  unless  it  brings  with  it  the 
duty  to  develop  our  material,  social,  and  spiritual  forces 
to  the  full.  It  can  scarcely  be  said  that  our  present  pol- 
itical institutions  as  they  stand  and  function  today  ful- 
fill this  requirement.  How  can  this  be  changed?  One 
way  would  be  to  bring  home  to  the  new-comers  the 
realization  that  citizenship  entails  obligations  as  well 
as  rights.  Prof.  Wright  feels  that  such  existing  evils 
might  be  remedied  or  minimized  by  a  greater  attention 
to  the  fact  that  so  many  within  our  midst  are  new- 
comers ;  furthermore  that  the  various  efforts  in  the  past 
to  adjust  these  people  into  our  institutions  were  based 
upon  notions  that  were  not  altogether  sound.  He  sug- 
gests the  following: 

(a)  the  elimination  of  mentally  subnormal  voters  by 
appropriate  psychological  tests. 


TO  AMERICAN  DEMOCRACY  301 

(b)  basing  registration  for  elections  on  the  voter's 
knowledge  of  the  issues  of  candidacies  involved. 

(c)  requiring  both  naturalized  and  native  citizens  to 
undergo  preliminary  training  for  the  initial  use 
of  the  ballot. 

(d)  periodically  the  whole  social  and  economic 
structure  of  the  governmental  area  should  be 
examined,  and  the  standard  and  desires  of  people 
ascertained. 

"Too  often,"  says  Sartorio,  "the  immigrant  is  made  to 
feel  how  great  are  the  material  advantages  in  store  for 
him  in  becoming  an  American  citizen  and  thus  is  trained 
to  enter  American  public  and  political  Hfe  in  a  mercen- 
ary spirit."*  Unquestionably  this  method  is  wrong. 
Sartorio's  experience  in  becoming  naturalized  is  the 
common  experience.  His  application  for  naturaUzation 
papers  brought  a  circular  letter  exhorting  him  in  four 
different  places  "to  become  a  citizen  and  to  learn  the 
English  language  in  order  to  get  a  better  job."  He  adds 
"the  letter  contains  not  a  single  appeal  to  the  higher 
motives,  not  a  reference  to  the  duties  and  responsibili- 
ties of  American  citizenship.**  A  letter  of  this  kind  is 
symbolic  of  a  method  that  demoralizes.  The  proper 
method  would  be  to  point  out  the  higher  aspects  or 
what  Sartorio  calls  the  "altruistic"  side  of  American 
citizenship  and  call  attention  to  the  duties  it  brings  in 
sharing  the  responsibilities  of  American  life. 

The  combined  results  of  this  and  other  methods  men- 
tioned earlier  would  be  as  follows:  first,  we  would  af- 
ford a  demonstration  to  the  outsider  in  general  and  to 
the  newcomer  in  particular  that  the  era  of  "laisser- 
faire"  in  naturalization  is  over;  second,  we  would  give 
patent  proof  that  knowledge  not  race  counts,  and  that 
we  are  started  in  the  direction  of  placing  in  the  hands 
of  those  who  have  demonstrated  their  fitness  real  re- 
sponsibility for  governmental  control;  third,  and  most 
important,  here  at  least,  an  increasing  share  of  atten- 
tion would  be  given  to  our  changing  body-politic  so  that, 
as  the  shifting  immigrant  hordes  and  their  descendants 

*  Sartorio,  page  65.      **  ibid  p  66. 


302  THE  ITALIAN  CONTRIBUTION 

are  shunted  into  place  and  become  adjusted — their  as- 
pirations can  be  more  easily  ascertained  and  attention 
accorded  them  always  with  an  eye  to  preserving  and 
perpetuating  the  individual  racial  variant  that  the  time 
test  has  shown  will  further  and  not  retard  our  Ameri- 
can democracy.  It  has  remained  for  an  American  of 
German  descent  to  most  clearly  point  out  the  value  of 
retaining  a  receptive  mind  to  all  our  immigrants  and 
permitting  them  to  share  in  the  widest  way  possible  and 
to  the  utmost  in  the  responsibilities  of  this  government. 
He  points  out  that 

"No  nation  ever  had  a  more  wonderful  opportunity  than 
we  have  of  becoming  rich  and  varied  in  the  manifesta- 
tions of  its  higher  life.  First  of  all  we  are  among  the 
great  nations,  the  last  comer  in  history.  We  have  thus 
fallen  heir  to  the  accumulated  experience  of  the  whole 
world.  Further  we  have  among  us  millions  of  represen- 
tatives of  all  the  great  nations  of  Europe;  lastly  our 
American  temperament  is  rapidly  growing  more  plastic 
to  new  suggestions. 

"As  the  Anglo-Saxon  ideal  so  powerfully  working  thru 
the  school,  the  pulpit,  the  press,  and  our  political  insti- 
tutions, is  sure  always  to  furnish  the  necessary  element 
of  stability  and  cohesion,  we  can  fully  afford  to  be  hos- 
pitable to  many  varieties  of  traditions  and  temperaments. 
An  opposite  course  so  far  from  building  up  a  better 
American  might  easily  lead  to  comparative  impoverish- 
ments. Every  American  of  foreign  descent  feels  that 
his  own  interests  and  those  of  his  children  lie  in  Amer- 
ica. His  gaze  is  forward  to  the  America  of  his  future 
and  not  backward  to  the  Europe  of  his  past. 
"If  the  American  people  as  a  whole  were  to  become 
musical  as  the  Teutons  or  the  Slavs,  sensitive  to  color 
and  line  as  the  Italians,  if  they  develop  a  deference  for 
language  like  the  French,  without  losing  the  Anglo- 
Saxon  straight-forwardness,  political  sense  and  self-con- 
trol, then  the  America  of  the  future  would  correspond 
to  that  future  which  consciously  or  unconsciously  even 
the  severest  Anglo-Saxon  New  Englander  is  cherishing 
in  his  heart."* 
It  is  this  "give  and  take"  that  facilitates  the  synthe- 
tizing  process  which  has  for  its  aim  the  evolving  of  a 

*  Camillo  von  Klenze — To  what  extent  would  America  profit 
by  suppressing  the  natural  traditions  of  its  hyphenaled  citi- 
zens?    "Problems  and  Lessons  of  the  War."    Addresses,  Clark 

University  studies. 


TO  AMERICAN  DEMOCRACY  303 

stable  American  type.  What  that  ultimate  type  is  to  be 
like,  one  must  be  brave  to  venture  a  judgment.  But  one 
well-known  leader  of  American  educational  and  political 
thinking  has  ventured  to  describe  him,  viz: 

"The  typical  American  is  he  who  whether  rich  or  poor, 
whether  dwelling  in  North,  South,  East  or  West,  whether 
scholar,  professor,  man  merchant,  manufacturer,  farmer, 
or  skilled  worker  for  wages,  lives  the  hfe  of  a  good 
citizen  and  a  good  neighbor;  who  believes  loyally  and 
with  all  his  heart  in  his  country's  institutions,  in  the  un- 
derlying principles  on  which  these  institutions  are  built; 
who  directs  both  his  private  and  his  public  life  by  sound 
principles;  who  cherishes  high  ideals;  and  who  aims  to 
train  his  children  for  a  useful  life  and  for  their  coun- 
try's service."** 

**  Butler,  Nicholai.  Murray— "The  American  as  He  is."    p  97. 


304  THE  ITALIAN  CONTRIBUTION 

CHAPTER  XXVII. 

CONCLUSIONS 
GENERAL 

1— This  is  a  study  in  AMERICANISM,  because  the 
people  under  surveillance  are  AMERICANS. 

2 — This  is  not  a  study  in  immigration  but  rather  an  in- 
quiry into  the  "rate  of  synthetization"  going  on  to- 
day among  America's  composite  racial  stocks,  looked 
at  from  the  sociological  standpoint  of  one  of  these 
stocks,  i.  e.  the  Italian.  In  this  study  no  ques- 
tion is  raised  as  to  whether  the  immigrant  is 
an  asset  or  a  liability;  no  examination  of  immigrant 
institutions  is  attempted;  no  discursion  is  made  into 
any  field  of  immigrant  activity,  organization,  etc., 
excepting  as  these  bear  inextricably  upon  the  hered- 
itary physical  inheritances  of  the  type  under  inves- 
tigation. 

3 — No  ultimate  definition  of  either  "Americanism"  or 
of  "Democracy"  is  attempted  here. 

4 — It  is  asserted  that  the  methodology  for  defining 
"Americanism"  and  "Democracy"  looked  at  from 
their  ethnico-sociological  aspects  must  be  thru  (a) 
on  the  one  hand  the  detailed  diagnosis  of  the  "hu- 
man-nature-stufif"  involved  in  such  types  of  indi- 
viduals whom  we  have  in  this  study  labelled  "Amer- 
icans of  Italian  extraction"  (psychological)  together 
with  similar  studies  of  Americans  of  Jewish  extrac- 
tion, of  Irish  extraction,  of  Russian  extraction  etc. ; 
(b)  on  the  other  hand  the  survey,  classification  and 
categorization  of  the  dififerent  types  of  institutions 
and  other  tangible  phenomena  (sociological)  that 
are  the  products  of  the  above  "human-nature-stuff" 
in  the  different  social  and  economic  stratifications 
into  which  at  many  places,  as  all  indications  point, 
our  second  generation  of  Americans  of  all  extrac- 
tions is  beginning  to  ramify;  (c)  the  synthesis  of 
such  detailed  studies  as  relate  to  and  affect  the 
evolving  of  types  of  mind  and  forms  of  social  organ- 


TO  AMERICAN  DEMOCRACY  305 

ization  that  we  can  label  as  being  distinctly  Ameri- 
can—  all  of  this  indicating  a  sifting  process  that 
involves  considerable  time. 

5 — Racial  characteristics  are  not  necessarily  indices  of 
inferiority  or  superiority. 

6 — Following  from  this  is  a  strongly  indicated  proba- 
bility that  almost  every  time  one  can  point  to  a 
defection  among  second  generation  of  Americans  as 
a  class  whether  they  be  Americans  of  Italian  ex- 
traction, of  Jewish  extraction,  of  Polish  extraction, 
etc.,  he  is  apt  to  be  scoring  an  indictment  against 
this  country  and  its  institutions.  So  that  the  more 
one  can  legitimately  take  stock  in  the  observations, 
experiments  and  laboratory  findings  of  the  scholars 
of  the  world,  supplemented  by  the  conclusions  of 
social  workers  and  those  in  close  touch  with  prac- 
tical conditions  among  a  new  people  in  our  environ- 
ment—  the  greater  is  the  accumulation  of  guilt  on 
the  part  of  an  unseeing  and  consequently  non-pro- 
viding community  that  suffers  congestion,  slums  and 
controllable  forms  of  vice  to  exist. 

SPECIFIC 

1 — There  is  no  such  thing  as  an  Italian  problem  in 
America  in  speaking  of  the  type  under  discussion 
here.  Calling  this  an  Italian  problem  is  a  misnomer. 
These  Americans  of  Italian  extraction  are  Ameri- 
cans first  and  last,  tho  in  some  cases  a  sub-normal 
type  of  American. 

2 — The  American  of  Italian  extraction  in  New  York 
City  represents  a  "transitional"  type  of  American. 
Of  a  total  406,805  such  persons  residing  here  81  per 
cent  are  below  twenty-one  years  of  age  pointing  to 
the  immature  stage  at  which  we  find  them.  This 
explains  the  high  percentages  of  7.8  and  72.7  for 
these  people  found  respectively  in  the  kindergarten, 
primary  and  grammar  grades.  As  yet  they  have  not 
become  adjusted  to  our  social,  economic  and  politi- 
cal life. 

3 — There  is  no  way  of  telling  what  one  or  more  partic- 


306  THE  ITALIAN  CONTRIBUTION 

ular  occupations  the  American  element  of  our  Ital- 
ian speaking  population  is  most  favorably  disposed 
towards.  The  only  certain  thing  is  that  they  will 
not  make  up  the  back-bone  of  our  "muscle  and 
brawn"  population  as  was  true  of  the  parent.  If 
both  Italy  and  America  alike  bar  migration  the  day 
of  Italian  "manovrali"  is  over. 

A — Indications  point  out  that  in  matters  of  language, 
citizenship,  religion  and  in  all  forms  of  social  wel- 
fare and  philanthropy  the  Italian  strain  is  in  no  way 
so  different  "per  se"  as  to  be  distinguished  in  pre- 
senting any  greatly  different  problem  when  com- 
pared with  other  stocks  in  New  York  City. 

5 — The  American  of  Italian  origin  is  "persona  grata" 
because  of  his  sociable  qualities  and  light-hearted- 
ness.  This  makes  him  quickly  and  easily  assimilable 
and  mixed  marriages  can  be  readily  looked  for  in 
the  future  particularly  with  the  Irish  and  German 
elements. 

6 — ^Disease  has  taken  a  higher  toll  from  the  Italian  than 
from  any  other  racial  stock  in  New  York  City  due 
chiefly  to  ignorance  and  the  extreme  contrast  pre- 
sented in  the  passage,  within  the  same  generation, 
from  an  active  out-door  life  in  an  almost  ideal  clim- 
ate, to  one  of  confinement,  squalor,  of  inadequate 
sanitation,  of  frequent  overwork  and  improper  food 
diet.  Within  the  last  ten  years  in  New  York  City 
alone,  rickets,  tuberculosis  and  diptheria  have  taken 
such  a  heavy  toll  that  the  Italian  strain,  with  respect 
to  these  diseases,  seems  to  have  acquired  what  a- 
mounts  to  a  heightened  susceptibility. 

7 — The  generally  "social  and  cooperative"  or  "friendly" 
nature  of  the  Italian  type  is  shown  by  the  way  he 
flocks  into  the  memberships  of  the  numerous  social 
organizations  which  he  has  organized.  The  Italian 
colonies  in  New  York  City  are  to  be  noted  for  the 
frequency  of  such  groups. 

8 — Leadership  and  initiative  are  readily  discernible  items 
to  any  discriminating  eye  and  are  shown  to  be  a  qual- 
ity of  this  type  as  they  are  of  oth^r  races  of  superior 


TO  AMERICAN  DEMOCRACY  307 

culture.  Most  of  the  groupings  of  the  educated 
Americans  of  Italian  extraction  show  these  qualities 
and  particularly  is  this  noticeable  in  the  social,  civic, 
and  educational  welfare  groupings. 

9 — Tho  yet  too  early  to  judge  adequately  there  seems 
to  be  no  great  inheritance  of  artistic  temperament 
among  the  Americans  of  Italian  origin  in  New  York 
City  coming  forth  to-day,  as  a  thing  "en  masse." 
What  does  seem  to  exist  among  the  children  of  this 
strain  in  the  New  York  City  public  schools  is  a 
greater  tendency  towards  manual  and  industrial 
arts  and  allied  forms  of  artistic  handicrafts.  While 
to  such  tendencies  the  general  academic  program  is 
narrow  and  cribbing,  nevertheless  the  mental  traits 
for  this  element  as  a  whole  are  not  different  enough 
to  warrant  a  special  curriculum  for  them. 

10 — The  Italian  temperament  is  distinctive  in  that  it 
registers  high  and  low  changes  quickly.  The  con- 
vivial temperament  of  the  Italian  race  allows  for  a 
large  modicum  of  imagination,  high  emotion  and  in- 
tensity of  feeling. 

11 — Italians  here  have  added  to  this  country's  wealth 
most  distinctively  by  virtue  of  the  inherent  traits  of 
industry  and  thrift  that  characterize  their  race.  In 
New  York  City  nearly  85%  of  the  adult  Italian  pop- 
ulation are  employed  in  our  industries.  Eighteen 
percent  of  the  contributors  to  the  symposium  in  an 
earlier  chapter  declared  these  traits  to  be  his  chief 
contribution.  This  was  the  highest  percentage  of 
any  of  the  contributions  listed. 

12 — The  Italian  strain  is  adding  most  distinctively  to-day 
to  our  national  psychology  the  qualities  of  buoy- 
ancy, cheerfulness,  good  fellowship  and  adaptability. 
Contributors  to  the  symposium  above  noted  pointed 
this  out  next  to  his  industry  and  thrift,  as  his  chief 
distinguishing  trait. 

13 — An  "artistic"  inheritance,  esthetic  appreciation,  love 
for  music,  etc.,  are  items  which  future  generations 
may  hope  for  because  of  the  infiltration  of  the  Ital- 
ian element  into  our  midst,  and  its  rate  of  realiza- 


308  THE  ITALIAN  CONTRIBUTION 

tion  may  be  almost  said  to  vary  directly  with  their 
economic  uplift. 

14 — Stated  in  a  word — while  the  Italian  strain  contri- 
butes "industry  and  thrift"  it  "loses"  or  rather  has 
temporarily  submerged  part  of  its  artistic  and  es- 
thetic inheritance  and  "gains"  in  return  for  this  per- 
sonal freedom,  educational  and  economic  advance- 
ment and  an  opportunity  for  an  unrestricted  expres- 
sion of  self  thru  the  development  of  individual  per- 
sonality. 

15 — Both  extensive  and  intensive   observation  and  ex- 
perimentation with  groups  of  Americans  of  Italian 
extraction  substantiate  the  finding  that  the  inherent 
qualities,  the   innate   germinal  potentialities   of   all 
peoples  of  superior  cultures,  which  includes  the  Ital- 
ian, tending  to  uniformity  make  for  an  equalization 
of  product.    When  such  is  not  the  case  one  has  but 
to  look  for  some  inner  and  hidden  perverting  cause 
in   the    social   organization,   educational    system   or 
economic   or   political   conditions.     Apparently   the 
American  of  Italian  extraction  has  been  subjected 
to  a  disproportionately  great  amount  of  such  dis- 
turbing influences,  due  chiefly  to  his  ignorance  of 
the  language,  lack  of  generations  of  trained  minds 
behind  him,  an  inordinate  pressure  sustained  in  mak- 
ing a  living,  etc.,  and  so  as  with  other  second  gen- 
erations of  Americans   of  Jewish,  German,   Polish 
and  Bohemian  stocks,  his  product  has  been  curtailed. 
That  this  above  has  been  the  case  rather  than  that 
the    racial   character   can   be    impugned   is    demon- 
strated by  the  fact  that  all  perversions  noticed  among 
Italians  in  New  York  City  can  be  duplicated  among 
the  Jews,  Greeks,  Bohemians,  Russians,  etc.,  today 
and  was  once  as  equally  true  among  the  Germans 
and  the  Irish  in  their  earlier  days  of  colonization 
here ;  that  when  a  group  was  selected  and  operated 
upon,   with    respect   to   chosen    social,    educational, 
moral  and  finally  economic  stimili,  the  consequent 
reactions   were   fully   on   a   par   with   those   of   any 
other  group  of  like  grade  and  selection. 
16 — Inasmuch   as   racial  characteristics   are  not  neces- 


TO  AMERICAN  DEMOCRACY  309 

sarily  indicative  of  inferiority  or  superiority,  the  ex- 
cessive   emotialism,    effervescence    and    demonstra- 
tiveness  (physical)  of  the  Italian  are  not  necessarily 
signs  .of   inferiority   or   marks   of   lower   mentality 
An  Italian  while  more  prone  to  color  and  gesticula- 
tion, does  not  reason  any  the  less  for  this  but  may 
have  as  active  a  mind  as  the  more  phlegmatic  Ger- 
man or  restrained  Englishman ;  that  probably  it  is 
as  difficult  for  the  German  to  disrupt  his  composure 
as  it  is  for  the  Italian  to  maintain  serenity.    Racial 
characteristics  are  not  necessarily  true   indices   of 
"controlled   and   reasoned   out"   reactions   and   cer- 
tainly do  not  present  the  whole  of  the  "coefficient" 
that  makes  for  a  relationship.    While  85  percent  of 
the  Italian  speaking  people  of  New  York  City  were 
classed  as  belonging  to  an  ideo-emotional  type*  as 
compared  to  the  2.5  percent  representing  the  criti- 
cal-intellectual   this    is    a    proportion    not    different 
from  the  general  run  of  mental  modes  for  the  en- 
tire population  of  the  United  States  as  was  found  by 
Professor  Giddings.** 
17 — Finally  comes   the  most  hopeful  conclusion   of  all 
based  upon  a  comparison  between  extreme  types  of 
Americans  of  Italian  extraction  that  have  gone  be- 
fore and  those  that  are  with  us  to-day.    Years  ago 
a  "tenement"  type  of  American  of  Italian  extrac- 
tion   existed    which    organized    itself    into    lawless 
bands  of  corrupt  youths,  infesting  the  tenement  dis- 
tricts, terrorizing  police  and  private  citizens  alike 
and  composing  a  community  within  a  community 
that  set  up  its  own  law  in  defiance  of  the  legalized 
guardians  of  the  peace  and  public  safety.  The  Amer- 
ican of  Italian  extraction  was  as  numerous,  if  he 
was  not  more  numerous  than  any  other  group  or 
portion  of  this  petty  brigand  or  thug  class.     The 
"Five  Points"  gang  was  composed  entirely  of  Ital- 
ians,   as   was   Jack    Sirocco's   gang,   The    Gophers, 
The   Red   Onion   gang   of   South    Brooklyn,    Monk 
Eastman's  gang,  containing  fifty  percent  of  Ameri- 

*  See  page  117,  supra. 

♦♦Giddings,  Franklin,  Inductive  Sociology,  p.  285, 


310  THE  ITALIAN  CONTRIBUTION 

cans  of  Italian  blood,  all  testifying  to  a  once  preva- 
lent type  of  American  that  is  fast  disappearing,  if 
not  entirely  gone.  One  needs  to  go  into  the  Italian 
sections  to-day  in  this  city  to  see  how  radical  has 
been  the  redirection  afforded  the  pent-up  energies 
of  this  vivacious  type.  The  other  extreme,  the  pro- 
fessional type,  is  also  well  worth  noting.  Judge 
John  J.  Freschi  says  that  in  1890  there  were  but  two 
Italian  speaking  lawyers  and  seventeen  physicians 
in  New  York  City.  To-day  Americans  of  this  type 
in  professional  work  number  thousands.  Thanks  to 
the  "high"  potentiality"  of  the  race,  many  a  street 
cleaner's  son,  as  well  as  offspring  of  boot-black  and 
rag-picker,  has  become  either  a  lawyer,  a  doctor  or 
a  teacher.  Changing  American  conditions  and  at- 
titudes too  must  not  be  overlooked.  These  have 
played  a  big  part  that  is  not  to  be  underestimated. 
They  have  made  possible  the  tremendous  increase 
of  opportunities.  What  is  hoped  for  is  that  in  view 
of  the  showing  made  by  this  contrast  of  extremes, 
the  opinion  will  universally  prevail,  that  the  profits 
and  reward  accruing  to  America  is  commensurate 
with  the  degree  of  readiness  she  displays  in  both 
materially  and  spiritually  recognizing  these  Ameri- 
cans of  Italian  parentage  to  be  as  much  her  kith 
and  kin  as  those  who  can  boast  of  Puritan  ancestry ; 
and  that  her  good  in  this  respect  is  circumscribed 
only  by  her  unwillingness  to  help  herself.  As  the 
dean  of  Italian  speaking  doctors  in  New  York  City 
says: 

"It  can  easily  be  seen  that  sickness,  vice,  and 
delinquency  which  is  so  deplorable  in  the  sec- 
ond generation  is  not  due  to  the  innate  deprav- 
ity of  the  people,  but  to  the  environment  in 
which  they  are  forced  to  live.  These  are  only 
passing  evils  of  one  generation  which  is  pro- 
gressing, and  the  inevitable  disadvantages  of 
a  people  that  is  trying  to  adapt  itself  to  a  new 
home.  They  represent  a  state  of  transition  but 
still  we  must  not  despair."* 
♦Stella,  Dr.  Antonio  — "Effetti  dell'  Urbanismo  etc."  p  91. 


TO  AMERICAN  DEMOCRACY  311 

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